NOT ONE MOTHER, BUT THREE
by Dr. Wayne Evans

     I have been blessed to intimately know three wonderful mothers.  Let me explain before you think I was tossed out on the street for being such an unruly child (which is what I probably deserved).

     My mother Dorothy gave me birth.  She somehow managed to meet my needs even though my brother was just 20 months older than, as well as my sister who was two years older than him.  Imagine having two babies in diapers before “Pampers” and a clothes dryer!   Washing machines back in the 1950’s didn’t have a spin cycle. Instead the operator put the wet clothes between two rollers to squeeze the water out of them before hanging the clothes on the line.  It may sound like a lot of work to us, but it was so much better than what our grandmothers had to do.   Mother always got us clean. I used to think she took pleasure in washing my ears and scrubbing the skin off my body.  Now I know better. We got to skip baths only once a week:  Friday nights because there was no school the next day and we would wash the sheets on Saturday.

    There was no money for eating out even though  Mother had to have been tired after teaching school all day.   She cooked a full supper every night of the week except Sunday.  Mother had that night off because she cooked a huge lunch on Sunday so there were left-overs anyone could eat who was not too full from noon.

    The second mother in my life was my late wife Pearl. She gave birth to my oldest son and together we adopted my youngest son.  She was a woman who taught me about the necessity of depth in relationships and following through on commitments.  She was honest to a fault, and demonstrated a special compassion for people who were struggling with life’s problems and their faith.  Her death to cancer shortly before our tenth anniversary has helped me to treasure each day spent with people I love.

    The third mother in my life is my wife Renee.  She gave birth to our only daughter and our other son. She sees possibilities in any item she comes across: an interesting piece of wood may become a footstool and the pages from a discarded hymnal may be rescued from the trash to become part of the back drop for a nativity scene.  An empty gourd is now a fairy doll house in a book case.  The guest room in our home is a magical workshop from which home made cards and other treasures emerge to delight the senses. Renee is so good with children, that I sometimes get to re-live a piece of my own childhood as she entertains our grandchildren.

    These mothers are all different, and yet each one has shown me the tender love that reflects the even deeper love that God wants to give everyone of us.  Maybe your mother was not able to show you love in the same way mine did.  God still wants you to know you are loved with a love so great that if you were the only person in all the world in need of a savior, his Son Jesus would have died on the cross for you. “This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”  (I John 4: 10).

Wayne Evans is pastor of Ruston’s Grace United Methodist Church. An archive of his columns if available at www.graceruston.org.  Follow the link to the “Pastor’s Page.”