I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day.
I cannot tell you how much your thoughts and prayers comforted me on that special day.
Thank you for your comments and emails…they are precious to me!
I got cards in the mail from my sweet sister-in-law, Sarah…
my good friend, Julie, and my Children’s Minister at church, Joyce, who have both lost their mothers…
Joe and Kim, sweet friends of ours…
my precious Aunt Lois,
my indispensable friend, Lori (she even made me my favorite muffins) :)
and my co-worker, Kathy, who also lost her Mom last year. She gave me a basket of beautiful flowers…the same ones my Mom planted by my front porch last year, the week before we found out she had cancer.
It meant so much to know so many were thinking of me on that day.
We all went to church with my dad, who attends my sister’s church. Her husband is the pastor.
Here are my sweet boys that morning…
We were all in church together…just as Mom would have wanted it…her husband, her children, her grandchildren.
As we stood to sing the first hymn, I felt the tears well up inside of me. I could hardly contain them.
Mom loved to sing.
Honestly, she wasn’t a very good singer. :)
But, oh how she loved to sing her praises to the Lord!
If she had been there, she would have been singing at the top of her lungs.
I could picture her peeping her head out, down the line of her family, to see me and give me a wink and a smile.
One of her favorite verses was,
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” III John 1:4
It is because of Mom, and God’s goodness, that each of her children live a life of FAITH.
Even Dad will admit.
It was her faithfulness…of taking us to church whenever the doors were open…of praying with us each night before bed…of reading to us from God’s word…of living such a Godly example in her own life for us to follow…
She left a legacy of faith behind her!
I praise God for my Godly Mother!
After church, we went to my sister’s house for lunch. We were also celebrating her son, Cory’s, graduation from Asbury University!
(Pictures from the day before)
He graduated Cum Laude with a degree in History and will be attending Law School this fall. We are so proud of you, Cory!!!!
Cyndi, Cory, Wayne (my BIL), Courtney (my niece), Chris (Courtney’s fiance), and Dad.
Later that afternoon, we went to Mom’s gravesite to plant some flowers.
Everyone got right to work…my husband and my boys…
My dad and sister…
My boys were so proud to be making Nana’s gravesite look beautiful…
Mom’s parents, my precious Nannie and Papa, are buried just about 50 yards from Mom’s gravesite.
Mom loved visiting this cemetery. She planted these same flowers on her parents’ gravesite too.
Mom’s tombstone is so beautiful, just like her. And it stands out among all the other tombstones surrounding it…just like her life always stood out among others around her.
This is the back of the headstone that faces the road.
This is the top of the front…
When we finished planting the flowers, we stood around Mom’s grave and talked about how wonderful she was…
How proud she would be of Cory’s graduation…
How much she loved her family…
How much she would have loved her flowers…
How much we miss her…
And we cried, and we hugged, and we shook our heads in disbelief.
But despite it all, it was a wonderful day. A wonderful day to be together as a family. A wonderful day to reflect upon the goodness of God.
A wonderful day to celebrate the life of a wonderful mother!
God bless you all!
Traci
Posts
Hello Traci,
ReplyDeleteYour beautiful post touched my heart this morning. I am so happy for you that you have such a wonderful loving family. I just know that your Mother was so pleased to see her loving family together and thinking of her.
hugs
Sissie
Traci, this really was an unbelievable time to lose your mom--no one would EVER have predicted this would happen. I know it feels like she should be right there with you for all these big events. I'm so sorry for your loss. But I'm glad that you all have drawn together to continue her legacy of faith and grace. God bless you all.
ReplyDeleteTraci, it does seem unbelievable that your mom is not right there with you for all these special events. No one would ever have predicted that you would lose her so early in life. I'm so very sorry for your loss. But I'm glad to see how you're all joining together to honor her memory and to continue her legacy of faith and grace. Bless you all.
ReplyDeleteA lovely day to celebrate a lovely woman. I got all teary eyed reading this. Your boys all looked so handsome. :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad you felt the Hand of the Lord upon you on Mother's Day. Such a sweet post. Be blessed. Cindy
ReplyDeleteTraci, I've been waiting all week for this post. I knew it would be a special one and of course it was. As Christians, we are able to see the joy in everything and celebrate life, even in death. It's only through God's grace that we have the strength to do that and get through these times. Somehow I knew you were smiling on Sunday and finding peace with your family. And may I add that your sister and BIL hardly look old enough to have grown children out of college! Your boys looked very, very handsome! Have a blessed week!
ReplyDeletexoxo,
Kim
Oh Traci, I prayed for you all day. I am not looking forward to Father's Day at all. I hate that I won't be able to be there for mom on that day. Because we will be going down two weeks later. You are so blessed to be so close to your family. I really miss that.
ReplyDeleteTraci I am crying reading this. What an amazing Mom and memories you have. The flowers are just beautiful. She is smiling seeing them.
ReplyDeleteBlessings sweet friend. ~Melissa
Beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteTraci,
ReplyDeleteOne day we will all be celebrating together again, oh what a day of rejoicing that will be! I love you, friend.
Julie
Hey Tracy, another beautiful post about your beautiful, wonderful, Godly Mother. Your admiration and memories of her always inspire me to be a better mama to my wonderful children. Thanks again and God Bless, Keep, and Comfort You. Carla
ReplyDeleteTears in my eyes as I read your beautiful entry today. What a lovely tribute to your mother on Mother's Day.
ReplyDeleteAwww, Traci, what a sweet, but sad day too for you. Thanks for sharing, it was a lovely family time for you all. Beautiful family too! Hugs, friend.
ReplyDeleteBeautuful post and such touching pictures....loved the post....wish I had known your MOM
ReplyDeletewhat a beautiful post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing it, your family is beautiful!
Such a beautiful post and tribute to your mother, Traci. Your son's sunday outfits were just adorable. You're going to have to keep the girls away with a stick when they're older someday! : )
ReplyDeleteTraci, thanks so much for sharing yourself and your life with us. You all certainly honor your mom each day with the way you live your lives! And your boys are precious!
ReplyDeleteWanted to let you know I received the giveaway prize from Luv-N-Charms today (thanks again!) and I just blogged about it, here's the link so you can come check it out:
http://sceneofthegrime.blogspot.com/2010/05/im-lovin-luv-n-charms.html
Hoping you're having a blessed day!
So glad you had a wonderful Mother's Day. Even after 13 years, it is still so hard on Mother's Day without my mom. Even more now that I have my own child, but I know that I have a guardian angel with me all the time.
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to tell you that I gave you a shout out on my blog for your aunt's super cute baby shower ideas. I used the baby booties and everyone just raved about them. They are so cute! Thanks so much for sharing such great ideas!
What a beautiful headstone and flowers. It sounds like your mother was precious. My mother-in-law passed away this Mother's Day. She was so kind and sweet, and I was blessed to have had her for a mother-in-law. She will be sorely missed.
ReplyDelete