Mom Had A Habit...

My Mother had a habit. Now it wasn't something deep and dark, that no one knew anything about. Actually it was kinda amusing!

When she was concentrating or vigorously working at some task, she would stick her tongue out of the corner of her mouth. I haven't got a picture of this, that I know of, but I believe it is genetic since I have seen it in some of her offspring...

As I was thinking of Mother's Day and how I missed my Mom, this little habit popped into my mind. Here are some of the times that this habit was on display... Opening a canning jar lid that was stuck - Stirring a pot on the stove to keep it from "sticking" - hoeing in the garden - pushing the grandkids in the swing. It seems like a small, humorous thing but I think this little habit reveals at least two great qualities about my Mom....

Single-mindedness and Vigorous Living.

Her single-minded goal in life was to serve the Lord and encourage as many of her family and friends that she could, to do likewise. It was her family, her friends, her neighbors, her church that she poured her life into.

Mom went at any task with a carefulness to detail and intensity that really can't be described. Not "Slam-Bang" "Get a bigger hammer" type of vigor. But the kind that washed the dirty dishes as she used them while she was cooking. The kind of vigor that supplied us all with handmade quilts of our own. The kind of energy that supplied HUNDREDS of gingersnap cookies to a generation school kids!

So...I'm sure that in her mansion in heaven today, the dishes are washed, the beds are made and there may even be a pot of brown beans on the stove...who knows?

And if Gabriel needs his horn polished? I'm sure Mom will grab a rag, stick out her tongue out the corner of her mouth and go to work!

One of my favorite pictures of  Mom...