An Ode to Mom

January 1st marks my mother's 50th birthday, again! For those of you who have followed my blog, I finally got the fryer and she loved it. After the sacrifices--- she better, right?!!

Well, she is worth every effort. I wish I could write a song or something, or offer some poetic justice in an effort to praise her because she is that wonderful. I get so tender when I talk about her, because she is a one-of-a-kind woman, full of strength, compassion, and a fierce loyalty when it comes to her children.

Now that I am a mom, there are times when I'm holding Micah or Caelan and I just can't seem to catch my breath because of how overwhelmed I am at the depth of my love for them. And I tell my mom this, and she says, "little girl, that's how I feel about you." I've heard her say it all my life, but I now fully understand with a mother's heart, what that really means.

If I were making yet another movie (I wish I had the footage for), it would fade to black.... and you see my mom escaping Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge, holding me over her head all night so I wouldn't be wet from 4-foot floods [fade] She is pushing me on the swing on a warm summer day [fade] she is helping me with my homework when the whole house is asleep [fade] she is mopping dirty bathrooms as a janitor and a cleaning lady, two jobs she took to help our family survive [fade] she's preparing some wonderfully delicious meal, all after having worked a full day [fade] she is standing over my father's hospital bed interceding in prayer [fade] she is sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with a pure and holy passion [fade] she is chasing after Micah with Caelan in her arms...

Mom, thank you for loving me and epitomizing the verse: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life...." (John 15:13)