Amazing Mom

Mom.

I've finally gotten to the place where I really appreciate my parents. Everyone always tells kids they'll appreciate and understand their parents one day. Typical of any child, I didn't believe what I heard. But I guess about the time we start turning into our parents, we also start appreciating and loving certain things we used to puzzle over. Ironic and scary.

I love my mom. She seems very quiet when you first meet her, especially in large groups, but don't let her fool you. If you get her one-on-one or in groups of people she knows well, she will speak her mind. I would even suggest to call her a "firecracker." I mean really, look at that sassy look on her face above.

I remember the first time I saw her teaching. She taught at the high school I attended, and I was walking through the hall to take something to another teacher. I looked through the window and watched her for a few minutes. I really couldn't figure out who she was. The woman teaching so little resembled the woman I knew in groups of people. Obviously, in a classroom, she is comfortable and supposedly in charge, so her attitude is much different than in a public arena. I was so confused though, as I watched her quick, witty sarcasm and joking permeate throughout the room. I had never seen that side of her before. 

My mom is great at being crafty. She quilts, sews, knits, crochets, cross-stitches, and paints. She even used to do underwater basket-weaving when I was a kid. It's pretty impressive. I like to think I got some of her creative genes (but my dad is pretty creative in his own way, so I'm sure between the two of them, I've got it covered). 

I'm particularly thankful for my mom this year because of how encouraging she is about E. She always sends me new and inventive ways to encourage E in schoolwork and by praying for him. My mother is a prayer warrior. I do not know the countless hours of her life she has dedicated to praying with and for my dad, sister, and myself. She prays for E, his future wife (what?!?) and Tyler as well. It's so encouraging to know she daily thinks of us and my other family members, too.