Life by Grace Alone

Herndon , Va. is my husband's home town. When his parents were alive every trip home was another opportunity for Steve to share his memories of growing up in Herndon across the street from the only school he ever attended before college. Our family grew and soon I as well as the four children shared in Steve's fountain of memories. We heard about the lawns he cut and the papers he delivered as well as the weeds he didn't want to pull. Years passed. His big sister who had given him his first Bible died unexpectedly. Little did we know that as his dad grieved over her, his prostate cancer was returning and about a year later he too was gone. The fact that he was not a young man at 89 did not make his death any easier to bear. We moved to Steve's home state. The years had taken their toll on his mom and soon she was living in a home near by. The joy of her nearness was dimmed by the sadness of witnessing less clarity in her thinking. The day came when she too was gone. ...

I remember a Mother’s Day years ago when a pastor quoted “ God couldn’t be everywhere therefore He made mothers.” Do you think the one who penned this forgot something amazing like God’s omnipresence? Perhaps you know this poem. M-O-T-H-E-R "M" is for the million things she gave me, "O" means only that she's growing old, "T" is for the tears she shed to save me, "H" is for her heart of purest gold; "E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining, "R" means right, and right she'll always be, Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER," A word that means the world to me. This poem has been read over the years by many people to celebrate Mother’s day. The great band leader, Eddie Arnold turned it into a song There are many others pieces of this caliber that could be added to this one. Unfortunately this is typical of the kind of sentiments that people have expressed about Mother’s Day over the...