Priscilla Shirer celebrates Mother’s Day by sharing memories that she has with her children and her own mother. Listen as she celebrates mothers and mother figures everywhere, and the incredible impact that they have in the world.

i had a conversation about mother’s day

with my sister a while back we both let

out a sigh and shared a laugh as we

recounted memories of some of our

mother’s days the ones that we’ve had

that instead of being you know curled up

with a nice book and a warm cup of

coffee and a quiet afternoon of rest it

was just the opposite we had you know

our fair share of all of the funny

mother’s day mishaps that you think of

in regards to that celebration pancakes

that were served to us you know in bed

but dripping with syrup all over the

sheets or dandelions that were collected

from the front yard and then brought

into our house

into the kitchen which means there was

mud all over the floor and then of

course there’s those one of a kind

construction paper cards that are folded

off center and then they’re sealed with

a kiss but they left glue all over the

kitchen counter

but you know it is the thought that

counts and the truth is somehow it

always seems that by the end of mother’s

day us moms are completely exhausted

from all of the activities and the

aftermath the cleanup that unfolds i

mean just yesterday one of my sons made

for me a mother’s day cake it was really

a concoction of sorts tears and homemade

icing but made from i don’t know what

and he stood over me as i tasted it so

he could have proof that i enjoyed it

but the mess oh the mess

the messes are big but you know so are

the joys and i really wouldn’t trade the

days of syrupy sheets and front yard

flowers for anything

you know

in the same way i kind of think that’s

how god sometimes views our eager

attempts in life

despite the mistakes and

messes

mayhem

but god’s dead past love for us never

changes

we’re all sticky and dirty and just

plain old silly

and yet we’re loved

we belong i remember feeling like my mom

was super human i mean when i was little

to me she was an actual literal

superhero i remember this one time that

my brother anthony and i we were in the

house probably with our siblings as well

but i remember my mom had turned on the

stove right before walking into the

garage which at the time that is where

our washer and dryer was so she turned

the stove on and got dinner going then

she just walked out to put a load of

laundry in but anthony locked the door

behind her and i remember hearing her

from the other side of the door trying

to explain how to unlock the door but we

couldn’t figure it out then i remember

walking around to the window and looking

out of the window as i watched my mom

run in what looked like to me super

human strength leap over the fence line

to run to the neighbor’s house to call

9-1-1 to get somebody to come unlock the

door as smoke began to come out of the

windows and fill the house i will never

forget that picture she looked super

human to me or that one time because you

know all four of us were always getting

in trouble that one time when we were

running errands with our mom and we were

in the car and she pulled up to a

bookstore and went inside the bookstore

the whole front of the bookstore was all

windows so she could see us and we could

see her and she stood right there at the

desk to buy what she was buying um but

one of us

kids decided that we would ship the

gears on the car and she saw the car

start slowly rolling backwards i watched

my mom through that windshield

burst out of that store through the

front door and run towards the car

reach inside the driver’s side and while

the car was moving she’s running along

to put the car back in park i’m telling

you my mom was a superhero

but now in hindsight now that i’m a

little bit older

probably have a little bit more

perspective and have children of my own

i realize that the things that made my

mom super human

were really

these internal characteristics things

you can’t really put a finger on and you

don’t notice them when you’re younger

but they come alive to you the older and

older you get

and now i also realize that it’s not

because she was superhuman

it was because she had the power

of the holy spirit of god living on the

inside of her

you know i’ve become more and more aware

of and appreciative of those values not

just the older that i’ve gotten but

particularly in this past year

you see last year this time

my mom was diagnosed with a cancer that

the doctors told us up front they didn’t

think there was anything they could do

to help it to be cured

or resolved

and even though many of them still

prayed with us for a miracle they told

us medically

they couldn’t do anything to help her

and we had so many people around the

world throughout the past

nine months that were praying fervently

that god would do something to eradicate

the cancer and to bring her back to full

health

and in the last three months of her life

as we sort of

literally moved in to care for her and

to care for my dad

we began to notice there in november and

december of 2019 that her health was

rapidly declining

it was during those last weeks of her

life that i saw those intangible

qualities that i want so much for myself

and that i appreciate her leaving that

kind of a legacy

for me

it’s the intangible stuff

like a piece that passes all

understanding

anybody that can still have joy

that can still have a smile on their

face

that has invested so well in family that

all her family wants to do is surround

her day and night to be near her her

grandchildren piled up on her bed what a

heritage what a legacy

on december 30th she went home to be

with the lord she went to heaven and

over that month

before she took her last breath i saw

her slowly but surely

loosening her grip on earth and looking

forward to heaven

in the end she’s even taught me

how to die

you know it reminds me of one of her

favorite passages joshua chapter four

in joshua chapter four the children of

israel are headed towards the promised

land they’ve just crossed over the

jordan river but they turn around and

they put stones of remembrance in place

so that when future generations would

ask what do these stones mean they could

be reminded about the faithfulness of

god

i’m so grateful because that’s what my

mom did for me

she’s left stones of remembrance and my

kids are asking about integrity and

consistency and character and

faithfulness and all those intangible

things and when they ask me about those

stones i can point to a woman

who left them behind for us to see and

pattern our lives according to

i want to encourage you to do the same

remember that those intangible qualities

those daily decisions to live well

they matter

happy mother’s day