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Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother's Day blog series -‐ a week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today's best writer's (Tricia Goyer, Sheila Walsh, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Bonnie St. John, and more). I hope you'll join us each day for another unique perspective on Mother's Day.
AND ... do enter the contest for a chance to win a beautiful hand crafted pearl necklace. To enter, just {CLICK THIS LINK} and fill out the short form. Contest runs 5/6-‐5/13 and the winner will on 5/14. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents.
If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls™ products (all GREAT Mother's Day gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.
And to all you MOMS out there, Happy Mother's Day!
We've heard it said and often find it true:
You don't know the value of a treasure until you're without it.
We take for granted the things in life that seem so readily available.
A paperclip or rubber band, to hold things together.
A tissue or napkin, to wipe our nose to clean our face, to absorb our tears.
A Bible to speak words of wisdom and instruction and life and love.
And a Mother, who is all these things and more.
She is readily available.
She holds things together.
She wipes our nose, cleans our face (and our fingers, and, well…everything else!)
She absorbs our tears and calms our fears.
"She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue." (Proverbs 31:26)
She loves.
Within hours after my mother passed into the gates of our heavenly home, I was missing her. Her quick wit…humor…charm. Her warm smile and melodious laughter, which served her well to the very end, as did our Lord Jesus Christ, who so graciously allowed her to slip quietly and peacefully into His arms.
She simply stopped breathing.
As I stood at her bedside in those priceless moments after her passing, I wanted to touch her skin as much as possible while there was still warmth in her body; to nuzzle my nose against her head and breathe in the scent of her hair while she was still there. Priceless treasures I was guilty of taking for granted, clouded by unmet needs. I was so consumed with what she was not, that I never fully appreciated who she was. It’s like I was blind, but now I see!
I see her strength, her commitment. Her perseverance…sacrifice…her unspoken love. I see how much she meant to me, how much she did for me, how much she taught me, and how much of the good in me was modeled by her.
She was a virtuous woman, as described in Proverbs 31 of the Bible.
“Her children stand and bless her… a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise (vs. 31).”
This last verse of the poem serves as an epitaph for the woman of virtue. It speaks of the legacy she leaves in her passing. It spurred me to write a personal epitaph for my mother, which I read at her funeral.
We
publicly
declare
your
praise
today,
and
in
the
days
to
come,
for
you
deserve
to
be
praised
and
blessed,
"We
honor
you,
Mom,
for
all
you
have
done!"
In
my
earliest
of
memories,
You
worked
so
hard,
striving
for
the
rest.
You
persevered
through
great
trials
and
did
your
very
best.
I
know
you
are
being
rewarded
in
ways
far
beyond
our
reach.
We
honor
you
now
by
practicing
what
you've
taught,
and
even
what
you
preached!
You've
stood
for
us
for
all
these
years,
Today,
we
stand
for
you!
I
pray
that
our
applause
on
earth
will
reach
your
heavenly
ears.
With the reading of this poem, I asked everyone to stand. We clapped our hands in celebration and praise of the life of my mother, Margaret Alice Stiltner.
Imagine our surprise to discover that she had left a poetic epitaph for us! She had clipped it from an old magazine and framed it. I found it when I was cleaning her home, on a nightstand by her bed. My mother was never versed at expressing emotion. This was her sweet way of kissing us good-‐bye: a priceless treasure to remember her by.
Cynthia
(Cindy)
Stiverson
is
a
speaker,
writer,
and
artist.
In
1998,
she
founded
Woven:
Women
of
Virtue
Network,
a
spiritual
formation
and
friendship
ministry.
She
pastors
the
women
at
Newark
Church
of
the
Nazarene
in
Ohio.
She
is
currently
working
on
her
fourth
Woven
Workbook,
and
also
a
book
for
mothers
and
daughters
on
the
subject
of
sexual
abuse. Cindy
considers
raising
her
daughter,
speaker/author
Nicole
Braddock
Bromley,
to
be
her
greatest
achievement.
She
loves
the
men
in
her
life,
hubby
Mark,
grandbabes
Jude
and
Isaac,
and
son-‐in-‐
law
Matthew.
You
can
find
more
of
Cindy
at www.WovenWomen.blogspot.co
m
and
www.CynthiaStiverson.com
Exciting News – the latest Pearl Girls book, Mother of Pearl: Luminous Legacies and Iridescent Faith will be released this month! Please visit the Pearl Girls Facebook Page (and LIKE us!) for more information! Thanks so much for your support!
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