A Mother's Day tribute to my Mom

My mom is one amazing woman.  I have always thought that about her....but after this year I have more of a respect for her than ever before.  She really is one of the sweetest, kindest, and most generous people I have ever known.  She is quiet and private and this post will more than likely make her uncomfortable....but I just wanted to publicly share with everyone how thankful I am to have her for a mom.

She is the kind of person you definitely want to have on your team. She will work incredibly hard and want zero credit for it.  She does more for her family than any of us ever know because she will never tell us all the things she does.  She has the biggest servants heart and she never seeks credit.  She has been a stay at home mom my entire life and is a huge example to me of how to be "busy at home."  She  is an awesome homemaker!  She takes care of the home so well and all of us would be completely lost without her.  She is unbelievably organized, the house is spotless, and of course she is an awesome cook!

Growing up, she was always there for me.  She helped me with anything I needed, cheered me on with accomplishments, and was there for me during hard times.  She hardly ever said no when it comes to having my friends come over which I always appreciated.  Though my mom doesn't like to be in the center of attention, she always allowed me to have pretty big parties at our house (it was nice that it was mainly youth group parties).  She is also such a loyal and good friend.  She would much rather have 2 or 3 close, lifelong, friends than 30 just so- so friends.

This has been one tough year for my mom.  For those of you who don't know, my mom was diagnosed with aggressive lymphoma cancer back in August.  The cancer seemed to come out of no where and was in her brain, bones and body.  We were all in such shock.  For the past 10 months, my mom has been in and out of the hospital, being probed and pricked countless times, with an IV poll attached to her at all times.  She has gone through 6 rounds of intense chemo, each twice a month.  She has spent many, many nights at that cold hospital.  She had a stem cell transplant, which is an extremely risky and scary procedure and had to stay in the hospital almost a month with such sickness, nausea, weakness, fevers, digestive issues, loss of appetite, chills, fatigue, along with so many other symptoms I don't even know about.  Lets not to mention having all her hair fall out and me having to shave her head for her.

It has been rough.  And no one would ever even know how hard it has been for her, because she has displayed so much grace and faith through it all.  Through all the pain and trials, she has not even once questioned God.  In fact she has clung to him more than ever.  She has not felt sorry for herself and she never complains.  Her faith has shined so bright through her cancer.  She even had a nursing student follow her case and had to write a paper about her.  In her paper, she wrote that the reasons she believes my mom has done so well with her treatment is because of family support and her faith.  I can't even imagine how many nurses and doctors she has had an impact on with her strong Faith in the Lord.

If you are able to call or spend time with your mom on Mother's Day this year, please don't take it for granted.  I know I won't this year more than ever before.   Mom,  Thanks for being an example to me of what it means to have joy during trials.  Thanks for teaching me by your actions how to be a wonderful Mom.  Thank you for always being there for me!  You are so strong and I am so proud of how you have handled everything that came your way this year.  I pray that the Lord would give us many, many more years together.  You are my hero.  Happy Mother's Day!