Happy Mother's Day!!!

To all the mothers I know -- I admire you and I don't know if I could ever do as good a job as you, of not only raising munchkins but serving the Lord simultaneously. You have a glorious calling and if I'm ever called to serve in the mothering ranks, I have all of you to look up to and take cues from. :)

--And to my mommy, specifically...

At first, I wanted to make a video, but then I decided that since I'm so bad at expressing myself verbally -- and because I don't want to be less adequate than usual -- I should do this in writing.

These are some of the things I either admire about you or know that if I didn't have either when growing up or from that lovely genetic pool you bequeathed to me (haha), I wouldn't be the person I am, today. (Now, some of you may be thinking "if only those circumstances had been different, we wouldn't have the plague, today, that is Ange". Scoffers and scoundrels! All of you! Haha. Well, all I can say is you really should've had my mother and all she gave, regardless of what I went and did with it. Heheh.)

-I'm so proud of you whenever I tell people how you were a single mom with so many kids and you had things so under control; it gives me something to model the raising of my own possibly-maybe-only-God-knows-if-ever brood, in the future
-I'm also really proud of you when I can tell people what a woman of faith you've always been
-You always had a good sense of fairness and a clear standard of obedience for us, as kids, which kept things unambiguous and easy to follow; I think all kids need that, so you did well by me
-Although I _have_ ended up cultivating a rather big mouth, despite your admonitions not to turn out like you (heh), I know that if you could make it, despite, so can I :D
-I'm a totally different person from you, so my thought processes and ways of going about things and reacting to life are completely different, but you're still in the back of my head giving me guidance, input and good direction (I still take a sweater with me every time I go out, even if it's sunny and hot, haha)
-When I was younger, I used to wish I'd had a more sentimental and emotional mother, because that's the way I am and I just couldn't relate, but now I realize that if you had been any different, you probably wouldn't have instilled in me the things that you did and I, with my questionable character, probably would've turned out even more questionable :D
-I admire your dedication to the Lord and how He leads you and the things that you've stuck it out through, throughout your many years in the Family, trusting that although at times circumstances and situations weren't good or even right, the Lord was in control and He would make them better in the long run and take care of things; and He always did
-Even if at 30+ having a mother that still thinks she knows better than you, her "child", can have the potential to be annoying (heheheh), I don't actually mind hearing the wee words of wisdom; I might balk a bit more than I used to, but they're still useful and sometimes even enlightening :D
-I don't know all the ins and outs of what happened to you in life -- I was pretty oblivious all along -- but if I can get through my life as unscathed (in the long run, that is) as you did, I'll be doing good and it's something that gives me faith it can all work out
-You've always taken good care of us -- whether spiritually through your prayers or physically through your gifts and thouthgfulness -- and I never felt like anything was lacking, when I was growing up; we were never hungry or without nice clothes and a good place to live and sleep
-I'm convinced that being a mother is a calling in life that you actually do get a special reward and award for, in Heaven, especially in this day and age when it's so easy and common to put a host of other things before it; you were willing to accept who and what and how many the Lord gave you and your kids are all a testament to your good training and excellence in motherhood, so you'll be in the top percentile when the grades are handed out
-I like how you passed on some of our cultural heritage to us, so that even though we grew up in a pretty nondescript "culture", we still have something special and that means something to us (in addition to everything else, of course)

Okay, well, I'm starting to wane, here, as we had a big soccer game, but I just wanted to post a little something in your honor. I'm praying that from this Mother's Day to the next, you'll see some little and big things answered and granted to you, as regards your mothering and/or children, in a special way.

Love you!