The Mother's in my life

(author's note: I realize this is a day late, but I did not have computer access over the weekend)
(2nd author's note: this may be a funny picture to post for a mother's day tribute, but this is one of my favorite pictures of my mother. This photo was taken the day that she got to fulfill a life long dream of going to Victoria Falls in Africa. The look on her face is radiant!
My ducky mom! I love you!)

This is just a small tribute to the mother's that God has placed in my life. I am so incredibly blessed. Not everyone even gets to know their mother. I not only know mine, but she is my friend. On top of that I not only have her, but God has placed several other women in my life that serve in motherly roles. This post is just a small way to show them the love that I feel for them in my heart.

MY MOM:
MOM, I am so glad that GOD chose you to be my mom. More than that I am so glad that you chose to have me. I recognize that you did have a choice and you chose me and I am thankful for that.
Thank you for teaching me about the GOD that you serve. From the beginning you taught me that HE loves me, that HE cares for me, that HE wanted to be my GOD. You showed me through example how to serve HIM, how to love HIM back and how to live for HIM daily.
Because of you I have a Joy unspeakable, and a Hope everlasting, and I am deeply in love with the GOD that never fails!
Thank you for that.
You taught me how to have a good time. Whatever my circumstance in life, you taught me to see the lighter side of it and have the ability to laugh at myself. You strove to make my life fun and taught me to look at the world around me with appreciation and wonder. You taught me to see beauty, even if I was the only beholder. Because of you, I know how to laugh till I cry and to bring joy into other's lifes.
Thank you for that.
You taught me how to dream. You let me know that it was ok to have a dream and to pursue it, even if you thought it was not the best place for me to be. When I fell you were there to pick me up and drive me home, and love me till I healed. Then you helped me find a new dream and have encouraged and loved every step of the way down my new path.
You have laid prostrate before the Lord praying for my life. A debt I can never repay.
Thank you for that.
I sometimes tease that 15,000 miles away is the perfect distance to have a healthy relationship with your mother. But my heart does not believe that. My heart misses you every day, and I long to see you. I am so proud of you, of the sacrifices that you have made in life to serve the GOD that you love and the family HE has given you. Thank you for teaching me all of my life. Thank you for raising me to the best of your ability, making me do what you thought was best with GOD's guidance, even when I didn't like it. Because of you, I know how to seek GOD's face and wisdom and make the hard decisions.
Thank you for that.
There is so much more to say, to take the time to post it all would be too long to read!
I rise up and call you Blessed!
My life is perfect with you in it.
I love you, mom!
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There is one other woman that I would like to pay tribute to on this day after Mother's Day. GOD put her in my life in the most unassuming of ways, as her employee....but HE, as always , had bigger plans.
Mama J,
I was put into the Workman family, by GOD's providence. He gave me a mom that is far beyond anything I could ever hope to deserve. But when HE then chose to separate us and allow her to carry out the things that HE called her too far away, He put you in my life. HE is so faithful.
My life in Abilene, and beyond is filled with memories of you. You continued to build upon the foundation that my mother had already laid and had begun to build. You encouraged when I needed encouraging, you loved when I needed loving, you lovingly chastised when that was needed. You rejoiced with me in my joys and successes!! You believed in me without a shadow of a doubt!
You have spent hours on your knees for me and I can never pay that back.
You taught me how to be free, and how to see what my dreams meant and how reach for them. You sat with me when I was in dispair and you waited patiently till I was ready to get up again, then you held out a hand and lifted me out.

Best of all, you brought me into your family and made me one of your own. Thank you for enriching my already wonderful life. I cannot imagine my life without you in it.

I am so blessed! I love you, Mama J!
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For the other mother's in my life, and you know who you are. Thank you for being living examples of what Mother's should be. Thank you for enveloping me and sharing your families with me. I look at each of you and see a beautiful woman. Better yet...GOD does!
Thank you!