Lessons from Mom

It's been almost four weeks since my dear mother passed away and entered the Lord's presence in Heaven. It feels like a lot longer than that. Death of a close loved on has a way of forcing you to stop and reflect upon what really matters in life. I've found that I have been doing a lot of "deep" thinking lately...which I pray will bear good fruit. Mostly I have been reflecting upon the lesson's I've learned watching my mom during the past eight years as she battled cancer. She taught me so much. The lesson that she first and foremost taught me, (not just by what she said, but by how she lived), is that the most precious thing of all is Salvation. That was her song from the day she got saved at 16 years old, until literally her dying breath. That is why she didn't skip a beat eight years ago when she was told she had terminal cancer, that is why she was completely at peace through out the entire process, that is why she never complained ("I deserve God's wrath and He's given me His mercy and eternal life with Him...How can I ever complain? I've been given so much more than I deserve"...these were her words just 5 days before her death!), and that is why she was singing praises to God every day of her life (even the many days when she was in unthinkable pain). The Gospel...so simple, yet so amazingly profound! How I want to live focused on the Gospel every day of my life. Just like Mom. I miss her so much that words cannot even begin to describe. I miss her more each day. But my heart & soul are at peace (thank you, Lord!). And I think every day about the lessons I've learned from her. She's invested so deeply into me, that I feel like the lessons I've learned from her will last a lifetime.

I wrote a tribute to her back on Mothers Day. The Mahaney girls posted it on their blog "Girl Talk". They also wrote a tribute to her the week she died. You can read them at www.girltalk.blogs.com (click on archives: August 2006 and look for "In Memory of Kathy Bowers").