Friday, May 15, 2009

She Showed Me Faith


Being adopted as been a true blessing from God. I wouldn’t have the faith that I have today if it wasn’t for my adopted mother. In the next couple of weeks I would like to share with you how this woman’s faith affected my life. Some of these moments I’ve already written about, but I believe they are worth repeating.

Both of my parents are deceased. My dad has been gone for 8 years and mom went home to be with the Lord 6 years ago. My dad was a loving father but he was a worldly man, relying on his own strength. He believed that when you died, you went into the ground and that was that. He never stood in the way of us going to church, yet on the other hand he never had much good to say about it, either.

Then there was mom, not strong in size but steadfast in her faith with God. I can still remember her smile and the sweetness in her voice. Not a day went by that she didn’t spend time with the Lord.

She was a wise woman. She led a simple life. She never demanded anything that would put the focus on herself. Her words were always kind, her home was always welcoming, and her life displayed the love of Jesus. She had many trials in her life. In the book of James, we are told to consider it “pure joy” when we are faced with trials. By having trials in our life, it causes our faith to grow and prepares us for anything.

It was the day before Easter in the year of 2000 when she fell in the bathtub at the age of 84. On Easter morning she arose with a black eye, her left arm badly bruised, and extreme pain in her neck. She didn’t complain and began putting the final touches to the afternoon dinner that we would be sharing as a family.

Upon my arrival there was mom standing at the kitchen sink. I couldn’t believe what I saw. As she turned around to welcome me, she looked like someone had fit her with a baseball bat, but there was that sweet smile of hers along with this greeting “Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.” Half way through dinner I could see she was in a lot of pain with every lift of the fork, so I convinced her to let me take her to the emergency room. She replied “Okay, but let me finish my dessert.”

We arrived at the hospital, filled out the paper work, had all the necessary testing done and waited for the results. Hours later, which I’m sure was only minutes, the doctor was giving her the news that she had broken the first two vertebras in her neck and instructed her to lay perfectly still and this was her response “Well, at least I didn’t break my glasses” ending with giggle.

You see, mom had gone blind in her left eye a few years back and her good eye was no good without her glasses. After the doctor left, I asked her why she had made that comment. With a smile on her face she said “I pray every night that God will continue to give me sight from my good eye and He did.” I must have had a puzzled look on my face, so she continued “Well, if I had broken my glasses then I wouldn’t have been able to see.”

She laid there with a broken neck not knowing what the future would bring and she wasn’t worried. Wait a minute, she did know what to expect and rested in the palm of His hands.




Tammy

20 comments:

Lisa said...

I love to hear stories like this! Thank you for sharing your mother with us. We have so much to learn from who finished the race well!
Blessings - Lisa

Paula V said...

You stinker. I'm like a little kid "more, more, more".

What a precious story and I look forward to more.

You momma is so, so sweet looking in her picture. I love to hear of people who are so carefree, giving, and loving. She carried on despite her pain. She wanted her dessert before the ER. She was thankful for her glasses despite her broken neck. Oh my. What a gem!!!

God's Girl said...

I love hearing stories of God's amazing faithfulness in our lives! I look forward to more.

Thanks for sharing. She sounds like an amazing Woman of God!

Kelly said...

You are SO BLESSED to have had a mom like that! I can't wait to read more and more and more about her! Thank you for sharing.

JMBMOMMY said...

Wow, I am not sure there is a greater gift here on earth--than the example of a Christ-following parent! What precious memories. Excited to hear more-thanks for sharing with us!

{darlene} said...

beautiful tribute, Tammy.
The love and admiration you have for your mother is clear here! Thank you for sharing.

Edie said...

I didn't know you were adopted. What a wonderful blessing your mom was. Oh my, I can't even imagine what she was going through that day.

Looking forward to more of this story. Much love to you!

Unknown said...

Simply beautiful, my heart is overwhelmed, somebody pass a tissue.Thank you for sharing.....

Unknown said...

Tammy thank you for following, May God bless anf keep you all ways!

LynnSC said...

What a precious story of your mother, Tammy. She sounds like such an awesome lady. Thank you so much for sharing.

Blessings,
Lynn

LisaShaw said...

I'm glad you continued from your post below and shared more with us. This is such a blessing.

I'm so glad that you're HERE.

Love you.

Joyfulsister said...

Hi Tammy...
What Love I feel in your spirit through the words you have written. She is a beautiful lady indeed bith inside and out, Thank you so much for sharing her with us and I would love to hear more.

Luv Ya Lorie

Greg C said...

I hopped over here from Kelly's blog. It was well worth the trip. What a great tribute to your mother. I am going to use what you said on Kelly's blog to ward off my adictions.Thank you.

Being Mrs Miles said...

Hi Tammy -

What a powerful story! What a blessing of learning from such a wonderful woman of God.

Thank you for sharing.

~ Barb

Karen said...

What a treasure you had in your Mom...can't wait to read more about this precious lady!

Marsha said...

What a beautiful tribute to a Godly Mother. You are indeed a blessed woman!

Julie said...

Tammy,
I found you from Billy Coffey's blog. This was a beautiful post. I loved reading it.

My father died just about 3 months ago... it's all so fresh and the grief is still a frequent visitor... I love remembering about him. I see you remembering too. It does the heart good.

It's nice to meet you!
Julie

Unknown said...

Wow, what an incredible posting and tribute to your mother! I love this story.

I can almost invision her giggles over the glasses and constant steadfast movement in keeping her home and family properly taken care of as she continued about her days tasks. What a sweet, sweet woman your mother must have been. And I love how you changed the ending to your post to state that she DID know what to expect and simply rested in His hands.

What a great mother you had indeed!

~Sarah

HOPE said...

What a precious tribute to your Mother...

Praise the LORD for those women in our lives that have such an impact on our spiritual desires in living for the Lord.

Blessings..
HOPE~

The SACC Write Sisters said...

What a positive woman! Thanks for sharing.