Mother's Day Blessings

Well, another Mother's Day has come and gone.  Well almost...it's 7:30 p.m., and I'm sure most "celebrations" are winding down by now, if you were able to have one at all.  I didn't think that we would be able to do anything today due to some other conflicts, but God and family intervened, and it turned out to be a very nice day.

The day started out raining, which was actually an answer to prayer because we need it so much. Wish it would have stayed a bit longer...but at least I didn't have to water the flowers outside today!
We also were able to go meet some church friends for "brunch" at our local restaurant, which reopened this past week. Our churches still are not able to hold indoor services,  and so our pastor does an online message each week. We used to go to lunch with friends after church, so today we went to brunch instead and then we watched the service online later. (Individually at home).   Our church district leaders are saying we probably won't be able to reconvene indoor church services until at least mid-June. I am not too happy about that, but I guess there isn't anything to do but be patient and wait and trust the Lord that all will work out for the best according to His plan. I'm thankful we can at least meet with friends at a restaurant now. That helps a lot!

We originally were going to wait until tomorrow (Monday) to celebrate Mother's Day with family because of other conflicts today. But those conflicts were changed, and we were able to get together after all!

Here we are, enjoying a wonderful lasagna dinner prepared by my sweet daughter in law.  What a blessing she is in our lives.

 And here I am with two of my sons, #1 and #3.

Our #2 son (as he actually used to call himself) is helping the Lord prepare our "mansion" in heaven, where we will have a grand reunion someday.   This picture below was taken in February, 2014, just a few months before our #2 son passed away from cancer.  These are all the Steiner "men" in my life:

 L to R: Hubby, #1 son, #1 (and only) grandson, #2 son, and #3 son.  I am blessed to have been known as Wifey, Mom, and Grandma by this crew of handsome men. 

Back to today:

Here is my plate of lasagna, garlic bread , and salad. It was delicious! Thank you, dear Rose, for providing such a wonderful dinner.  BTW, I told the guys that I had set the table with the pink tablecloth in honor of us girls, so they'd better not get any lasagna spilled on it. LOL.  They did really well...they ate it up so fast it didn't have time to hit the tablecloth! LOL.

And here are some of my gifts...my kids gave me two new kinds of bird feeders. One is for hummingbirds, and goes on the window so I can see them up close. The other is a regular bird feeder, and it also goes on the window so I can see it up close too.  I can't wait to get them put up...and I look forward to lots of wonderful up close encounters with our bird world.

My number #3 son is very creative. He constructed this beautiful angel for me today out of copper wire.  She will sit/fly in a special place where I can enjoy seeing her every day.

My "daughter in love" knows how much I love a certain kind of Lavender Goat Milk Soap. It is home made by a friend from down where we used to live, and is loaded with wonderful essential oils and healthy ingredients.

 She ordered this for me as it difficult to get back down there to get it, especially since this "pandemic". These six bars should last me at least six months! I am so happy to get this as I was almost out of it.

I did bake an apple pie today.  Here is what is left of it:

Click HERE for a Mother's Day story about my mother's pies.  My mother was the expert pie baker in the family...and she always baked an apple pie for my birthday. So, in honor of her memory I baked an apple pie today. It was almost as good as Mama's...but not quite as perfect.

My mother at age 70. In my mind, she was still this beautiful when she passed away almost 20 years later.
Dorothea Tedlie Mursch
1917-2006

Here is a picture (below) of me with my mother, way back in the late 80's I think.  This was taken on a very special day that we spent rambling around an old abandoned house in north Georgia. There just happened to be some lilacs blooming on that property, and since that was my mother's most favorite flower ever, my Dad took this picture of us enjoying the lilacs together.  CLICK HERE for a story about my mother and lilacs.  Such a beautiful memory of a wonderful day together.

Click here for THE STORY of that special day.

And then of course I want to remember my dear mother in law too. There are many stories about her scattered throughout this blog, as she spent a good bit of her last several years of life with us in our home.  If you want some interesting stories about life with "Nanny", go to the right sidebar here on the blog and under "Some Special Topics", click on the first one "Caregiver", and you will be able to live through some of our adventures together.  She was a very special woman, one whom I will never forget. I was blessed to be her "daughter-in-love".

Vivian Martin Steiner, "Nanny"
1923-2018

You can also CLICK HERE for a "Tribute to My Mother-in-Law, updated last year for Mother's Day, a few months after she had passed away.

In closing, I want to thank the Lord for the wonderful women He placed in my life. My own dear mother, and also my dear mother-in-law. Not to mention the many other women of influence throughout the years, many who were like "spiritual mothers" to me during my years of serving alongside my husband in the ministry.  I needed a lot of wise counsel during those years, and God always seemed to bring just the right women along at the right time to help lead me in the right direction. I am not sure I would have made it without their kindness and Christian love.

Praying that you have also had a blessed and beautiful day today. I know for many this has not been a great day, due to distance away from loved ones, and perhaps some have not felt like this was a day they could celebrate for one reason or another.

I believe that Mother's Day really should be a day of tribute to all women, regardless of whether or not they are mothers.  Many women, who may not have been mothers in the physical sense, have been more like mothers to other people's children than perhaps those other's own mothers were. I like these words from the famous Proverbs 31 "A Portrait of a Virtuous Woman"

"25.  Strength and honor are her clothing;

She shall rejoice in time to come.

26.  She opens her mouth with wisdom,

and on her tongue is the law of kindness.

27.  She watches over the ways of her household,

and does not eat the bread of idleness."

29.  "Many daughters have done well,

but you excel them all."

30.  "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing.

but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised."

31. "Give her of the fruit of her hands,

and let her own works praise her in the gates."

That is the kind of woman that we should each aspire to be, regardless of whether or not we are married, have children, or live alone. Our worth comes from the Lord, first of all...not from our marital or familial status.  

"A woman who fears the Lord....She shall be praised."

That is the most important quality in a woman ever.

Amen?