Wednesdays with Wanda

This week marks another “first” for our family since our Mom passed away.

Seems like we’ve had a lot of those lately….

This week is my brother’s, Mom’s only son, first birthday without her.

My heart breaks for him because I have already experience my first birthday without her, and it was one of the toughest days for me since she passed away.

Today, I want to honor my mom’s love for her son and his love for her as well.

To say that my brother, Blake, was the “apple of Mom’s eye” would be the understatement of the year.

He stole her heart from day one!

He was the youngest of her three children and a welcome arrival after his two older sisters. :)

It was the joke in our family that Blake could do no wrong in Mom’s eyes. And Cyndi and I would say quite often with sarcasm (and a little jealousy) in our voices, “He’s precious.” The same words we heard Mom say so many times herself when talking about Blake.

Mom always saw the best in Blake, even though my sister and I tried and tried to help her see otherwise. :)

She loved him.

She believed in him.

She prayed for him everyday.

She adored him.

And Blake loved Mom. He knew the sacrifices she made for him over the years. He knew the depth of a her love.

Blake finished a poem he wrote about Mom the day before she passed away.

I shared it in a post that morning not knowing that that would be our last day on earth with her.

For those of you who are new to my blog, (and for those who are not), I want to share with you some of the post I wrote that day.

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(September 21, 2009)

It’s Monday morning, and I am sitting with my mom in the hospital.

My sister and dad brought her to the hospital in the middle of the night because she was experiencing extreme pain in her abdomen.

They have given her morphine for the pain, and we are waiting for results from an x-ray.

She is very much out of it, but will sometimes speak out of her head. The words she has said the most are, “I love you, Lord.” and “You all are wonderful.”

It reminds me of the scripture,

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”

Luke 6:45

My mom’s heart is overflowing with love for her Lord!

Here is a picture of my family that we took on Dad’s birthday, September 4th.

That’s my brother, Blake, in the middle.

He is Mom’s pride and joy.

He recently wrote down some words that had been laid on his heart. I think he did a great job describing our mom.

He said I could share them with you…

There is None Better!

I hear people brag about their moms, but if they ever met mine they would know. There is none better.

You think you know a Christian that talks the talk and walks the walk? Well let me introduce you to my mom. There is none better.

I always thought the best way to describe a Christian is “Servant.” You should meet my mom. There is none better.

Do you know someone who is unselfish? Puts everyone above themselves? Would give you anything they had? I call her Wanda Faye, she's my mom, and trust me, There is none better.

I've known her 37 years. I've seen her faithfulness. I've gotten up at 5 in the morning and found her reading her bible. I've watched her prepare to teach bible studies. This isn't just a bias. I'm telling you. There is none better.

She's fighting cancer now. She even does that selflessly and gracefully. I can't tell you how many cards she has received. What does my mom do? She uses all the energy she has to try and write everyone back. Do I really need to do any more convincing? There is none better.

If you've been fortunate enough to meet my mom you know what I mean. If she's touched your hand, smiled that sweet smile, told you she loved you, told you she was praying for you, well consider yourself blessed…she meant every word. There is none better.

If the Lord does decide to take her home before we are ready. I can't say I blame him. He knows what I do. There is none better.

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As a mother of four boys, I love seeing the love that my brother and Mom shared. She loved that I had all boys. She always said, “Boys love their mamas!”

I pray that my boys will love me as much as Blake loved Mom.

I know I love them as much as Mom loved Blake! They have stolen my heart as well!

Please say a prayer for my sweet brother as he has his first birthday without Mom.

Thank you so much,

Traci

(For anyone reading this post who has lost a loved one, I just want you to know that I said a prayer for you today as well. Though we may have never met, God knows your name and your heart. May you feel His presence in your life today.)