Our daughters- Melissa, Heather, Ginger, Hannah (Left to Right)
Around Mothers Day, I
always find myself thinking of the Mothers in my life It has been over 20 years since Mom died,
and much longer since my Grandmothers died.
They were each remarkable women that had a great impact on me. I became a pastor about the time that women
were just beginning to serve as pastors of local churches. A lot of persons my age and older have struggled
with accepting women as pastors. I
never have largely because of the large
place that women, particularly my mother and grandmothers, had in my life.
While I could write
long about my mother and grandmothers who have gone on to glory, today I want
to write in tribute to the women in my life who are living: my wife, Ann, and
our 4 daughters. While none of them are
my mother, my wife Ann and 3 of our 4 daughters are mothers. All of them are strong women who have
touched my life and the lives of not
only our family, but many others. I do
not often speak about them in this forum but today I do with gratitude.
Ann, my wife
My wife, Ann, is one of
the most generous people I have ever met.
She is generous not only with her time and talents with our community
but with her monies in making gifts to others sometimes without them knowing
about her kindness. While I often find
myself in the limelight due to my vocation, Ann often is working behind the
scenes and prefers it that way. While I
often react in a quick reactive way to people, Ann most often reacts to
people with kindness giving them the benefeit of the doubt.
Our daughters are also
great women. Heather is one of the most
intuitive persons I know and is a wonderful mother, wife, and school teacher. She has a variety of interests and is skilled
in so many things. Ginger is a great
Mom and wife and shows the same through her untiring efforts to look after her
family. She is showing in these days her skill in juggling many duties as she finds her self in school again and in the workplace again. Hannah is so generous to others and is
always seeking to take the side of the
underdog and the overlooked. Though she
is not a Mom, she continually seeks to dote on children especially her nieces
and nephews. Melissa tirelessly seeks
to be a great role model and teacher to the children in her classroom and a
great mother to the 3 young children in her home. Each
of our daughters are special in their own way, and I am grateful for the women
and people they are.
Many years ago, a women
in a congregation where I served shared a statement with me that went like
this: “Give me flowers before I die,
not when I am dead and gone.” Today, I
give flowers to these living women in my life for who they are to not only me,
but to their family and beyond. Perhaps
you can offer a bouquet to the important women in your life. I love and appreciate the women you are Ann, Heather, Ginger, Hannah, and Melissa. You make life better for me and so many! I love you! Have a joy-filled week and a blessed Mother's Day everyone. - Pastor Randy Wall
PRAYER
Thank you, God, for those mothers and women in my life in days
past and today. Give me words to tell
them and show them how much they mean to me;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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