MOM spelled upside down is WOW!

For as long as I can remember I have been WOW’d by my mom.  She makes life better!! She gives the best hugs, makes the best homemade bread, homemade cinnamon rolls, homemade fruit roll ups, homemade fudge, and homemade rhubarb pie.  My 5th grade teacher would seek me out at lunchtime, hoping I would be willing to swap anything my mom had made for my lunch that day!

“Yes” is her favorite word. “No” is only used on rare occasions.

With Mom, daylight hours are made for playing hard and nighttime hours are made for dreaming big.  For me and my sister, our summers were spent playing outside, often ending with sleeping outside, admiring the stars for hours.

I remember being about 6 years old when I crept into my parent's room and got face-to-face with my sleeping mom.  I was so close I startled her when she opened her eyes. “Mom,” I whispered, “can I go outside to play?” She responded with a question, “Is the sun up yet?”  I smiled big, and shook my head slowly side-to-side, “No.”  She told me I could go outside…as soon as the sun came up.  Yippee! I only had to wait an hour or so!

She let me “run away” for a day. I came back when my snacks ran out.  She let me get dirty often. She let me play in the water hose for hours.  She let me read regularly, as she is an avid reader. She let me explore areas of interest.  For example, in my 7th-grade year, not only was I on the soccer team, I was also on the chest and bowling teams.  To top it off I also played trumpet in the school band. She encouraged it all.

My mom celebrates everything…and I mean everything! As her young daughter, she would applaud little things, like me finding “pretty” rocks.  You would have thought I mined a 10-karat diamond.  But she also celebrates the big things…like marriage and grandchildren.  She is the best cheerleader for me but also for everyone she knows.

Cheering people on is one of her biggest superpowers. My mom sees the best and everyone…and is not bashful about telling them.  If you have been around her for even a short amount of time, you know, this is true.

Growing up, so many of my friends could not relate to having a mom who wows them…in a good way.  One of my closest friends yearned for even one kind word from her mother.  Another friend avoided her mom because her mom’s words and actions made her feel like she was a burden.  Still, another friend felt ashamed because her birth mom had given her up for adoption yet chose to keep her other siblings. None of them felt loved.  

The title “mom” can carry a lot of hurt for so many reasons.  Maybe that applies to you.  Around Mother’s Day the hurt can intensify.  However, know this: God sees you. God knows you. God loves you.

God sees you.

One of the names of God is Jehovah El Roi.  It means the God who sees.  In Genesis 16:13 Haggar was feeling betrayed and had been driven away from her family.  God met her where she was and gave her provision and direction…because He saw her!  And then Psalm 121:8  states, “The Lord SEE’s you’re coming and going both now and forevermore.”

God knows you.

The Bible says in Nahum 1:7, “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he KNOWS those who take refuge in him.”  We also see in Matthew 10:30 where the creator of the universe is so interested in us…He even KNOWS the exact number of hairs on your head!

God loves you.

Is 54:10 makes it clear, when it says, “The mountains and hills may crumble, but MY LOVE for you will never end; I will keep forever my promise of peace.” So says the Lord who LOVES you.”

Maybe your life story has a loving mother in the middle, or maybe it doesn’t, but this truth remains: God sees, knows, and loves you.  So, as this Mother's Day comes and goes, remember God shows over and over again He is WOW’d by you!

Posted 05/15/2023