This woman is having a birthday!

Today is this lady's birthday.

She's my mama.

I've learned a lot from the woman.  She taught me to work hard for what I want in life, she taught me to always say thank you, she taught me to help with the dishes when someone makes you dinner.  But of all the things my mom taught me, I think the most important one is this.  She taught me to be nice.  To everyone.  No matter who they are, no matter if I like them or not, no matter if they have a lot of friends or are a total loner.  She taught me to look for people who need a friend, to sit by people who are alone, and to always be sensitive to other people's situations.  I learned all this not from lectures, but from watching her.  I can't count how many times my mom stayed late at a church activity to listen to a lonely friend, offered to baby-sit a neighbor's kids, or took a struggling mom out to lunch.  I've seen her weed widow's gardens, I've seen her buy and make gifts for anyone she cares about, and I've seen her quilt blanket after blanket after blanket.

When my mom was made a widow, she wasted no time feeling sorry for herself.  I have been amazed since I have lived with her how much she does for others.  Her life is completely devoted to service.  She babysits her grandkids regularly, she starts up books clubs, she tutors boys who struggle with reading, she takes all the sickies on the street dinner.  I look at my mom and think how easy it would be for her to be upset with God, to claim that her life isn't fair, and to demand that He owes her something.  But instead she has completely devoted her life to other people and making them feel important.  And maybe that is her gift, when all is said and done.  She makes the people that she is around feel like they are loved.  That they are cared for.  That they matter.

So Happy Birthday, Mom.

I hope when I grow up I can be like you.