5.10.26 | Mothers Day

Speaker 2: Ruth just asked several of us in her Bible study class to share things about your mother today, and so I I think there's several that's going to share, and the spatial will probably really be on that bench back there. I have my mother's Bible with me today, and it was my privilege to work with my mother. She wasn't just my mother, she was my partner in my business. and to work with her for over twenty years. And that was a very special relationship. we were very close. We talked about lots of different things. We discussed Larry's sermon on Monday morning. And we just talked about a lot of spiritual things, about life things and and and many things. And she shared with me once, she said, you know, I used to think that because your dad was a Christian, that I would just go to heaven too, because I would I was his spouse. But somewhere along the way, in the reading and studying of her scripture, she learned that she had to make her own decision for God and Jesus Christ to be her Savior. And I would like to read some of the things that she marked in her Bible concerning that. One of those is from Peter, or from Acts 1, and it's Peter speaking. Each one of you must turn from sin, return to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you also shall receive this gift, the Holy Spirit. For Christ promised him to each one of you who has been called by the Lord our God, and to your children, and even to those in distant lands. And then she also marked, We should behave like God's very own children, adopted into the bosom of his family and calling him Father, Father. For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us we really are God's children. And that, since we are his children, we will share his treasures, for all God gives to his son Jesus is now ours too. And then also in Philippians 2, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. I'm very fortunate to have had a mother who loved the Lord and helped in teaching me to love the Lord, bringing me to church, teaching me the scriptures. That was quite a blessing from God as I look back on everything now. I have a couple of other things I'd like to share. Louise Keys often gave Mother these ideals magazines. And it is some poetry. And often, those of you who will remember Ruth Young, her special was always a poem. She would come and read poems. So this one today is entitled Mothers and Daughters When I dressed today, something happened to me. My mother's hand came out of my sleeve. It made me look back at the years gone by, and it's true what they say time does fly. I remember my youth, my childhood days following mother, imitating her ways. I loved playing dress up. And wearing her shoes. Which still don't fit, 'cause my feet never grew. Mom was charming, friendly, and capable too. There wasn't a thing that she couldn't do. She was president of this and chairman of that. It would be a tough job to follow her act. My life passed by in a blur, it seems, through all of the stages right up to my teens, where every week brought a crisis. Or trauma, yet through it all I could count on my mamma. Then it seems I just blinked and I was all grown, married with children and a home of my own. Raising two daughters was a major concern. There was no manual for motherhood. Just live and learn. Watching my girls made mother think back, and she cringed if I scolded or gave fingers a whack. It amused me to note as she let out a moan what was fine for mom's child was too harsh for my own. Laughing and loving as my daughters grew, each stage of their lives was like deja vu. Only I was the one carpooling each day, leading the class in the PTA. In a flash, they were grown. It happened so fast. Graduation, college, marriage, all past. So daughters of mine, heed these words and believe someday soon my hand will come out of your sleep. Warning to Sasha today. I have one more. And I think maybe this is about a mother of a son. I'll see what you think. This is titled Things My Mother Taught Me. My mother taught me logic. When she said, if you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can't go to the store with me. My mother taught me medicine. If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they're gonna freeze that way. My mother taught me to think ahead. If you don't pass your spelling test, you'll never get a job. My mother taught me ESP. Put your sweater on, don't you think I know when you're cold? My mother taught me to meet a challenge. What were you thinking? Answer me when I talk to you, don't talk back to me. My mother taught me humor. When the lawnmower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me. My mother taught me how to become an adult. If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up. My mother taught me genetics. You're just like your father. My mother taught me roots. Do you think you were born in a barn? My mother taught me wisdom of age. When you get to be my age, you will understand. My mother taught me about anticipation. Just wait till your father gets home. My mother taught me about receiving. You are going to get it when we get home. And my all time favorite thing was justice. One day you will have kids and I hope they turn out just like you. Then you'll see what it's like to be a parent.

Speaker 4: I'm going to sign and recite a voice. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fienders, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of him? Human beings that you care for him?

Speaker 2: Thank thank you. That was very nice. Okay, I'd like to do prayer now, so I'd like to start with praises. Does anybody have a praise from this week? Well, I'm gonna share one. Mike doesn't think it's appraised, but he's thinking logically and I'm not. So

Speaker 3: you

Speaker 2: we have a a truck that's not very old, but it's got all kinds of gizmos on it, and something is draining the battery. So now it won't start. And it'll start after you dri if you charge the battery, but you know, once it sits for very long the the battery dies. Well anyway, I was just thinking this morning, during my devotion time, how many trips I have made the past couple of weeks after my mom passed away. Because I drove to St. Vincent's in Indianapolis. I drove the next day to Whitestown. I drove to co I drove to Lebanon. I drove to Kokomo. Many, many trips. Of course Mike thinks it's he doesn't think I know God says it ha the faith of a child, you know, I have faith of a child. Or the faith of a mustard seed. But anyway, I'm gonna just give God glory for that because I could have, you know, been on the road. I was basically by myself every time I drove. So anyway, I just wanna share that and praise the Lord for what he did during that time. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, I thank you that you are Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals. Lord, so many people need your healing right now. And Lord, we just lift them up to you. Cindy, Tracy, Nikki, Tom's aunt, and Dustin's mom. Lord, that you continue to heal them, Father. Father, I just pray for I also pray, O Father, and thank you that you are Jehovah Jrah, the God who provides. And even when things look bleak, Father, that you have run ahead of us and you have provided all that we need. Lord, I pray today as we share about our moms or grandmothers or a special woman in our lives, that you would just bless this time. Father, that it would bring you glory and honor that you so richly deserve. Father, I just lift up Larry to you too. Lord, we pray for the results of the biopsy, and I just pray that you would heal his neck, Father. Give him the strength that he needs. Lord, we just give you all the glory. For it's in your name I pray. Amen. Okay. I asked some people to talk about their mother. Okay, this has kind of been the way. And I didn't think I could talk about my mother quite yet, so I just want to talk about my grandma. So I'll start and then the rest of you can come up here and share. My grandmother's name was Dorothy Collins. My dad used to call her Dorothy, which I tried to mimic as a child but couldn't say it, so I called her Dotie. Which all my cousins called her Doty too. I have lots of fond memories of her. She was a really fun grandma. She used to make for my sisters and I, coffee. And it w mostly was milk with a few smidges of coffee, but she called it Mrs. Fagley Coffee. I have no idea why it was Mrs. Fagley Coffee. She taught me how to play Euchre and how to renege.

Speaker 6: Yeah.

Speaker 1: you

Speaker 2: She had the world's largest pop bead collection in every color. I don't know if you some of you older gals remember pop. I mean they were a choking hazard. I don't know why we had them, but anyway, she had hundreds of them. And it was hours of fun for a little girl to play with those. I remember one fourth of July she sent us fireworks in the mail, which in case you didn't know is illegal. She took me to church camp, which I absolutely love, but I think she loved it more because she was a great counselor. She taught Sunday school for many years. And as I look back, I know how much she prayed for me. But I think my best memory of my grandma is how much she loved Jesus. And how she showed that love with us and with my sisters and my cousins.

Speaker 3: I should have been like my mom. Every morning, we never have alarm clocks. She sits on a piano and sings this song and plays. I cannot really translate on English. I could not find it on English. It says, how God has given us a beautiful day again and sunshine and all goes on and every morning mom plays that piano. This morning I woke up. I sat down and started putting my hearing aids in and I had to change filters in them and they had to be set just correct to hold it in my right one. I couldn't get it correct and I had laid my glasses on my lap because I sit down and do it. So I couldn't get hearing aid in and research says let's go. And so I start getting up, putting. My glasses fall on the floor, I step on them. These are my old frames. I don't have no lenses here and I cannot hear you. If I were to say thank you Lord for today and thank for a new day like I usually do and I didn't. So anyway, I always told you, I told lots about my mom. She's very musical and talented and... One thing I don't think I have at all, she got her doctorate degrees when she was 74 years old. And she always studied and Bible was teaching, counseling, all kinds of things. But prayer was center of our family. So I'm just telling you a couple of things what we always had to say. This was finished. Every time we cut off from the table, we had to say, Thank you Lord, I got this all in Finnish here, so thank you Lord for today and thank you Lord for our food. Amen. Bye bye, we run off. But we could not, if we didn't say that, we have come back and say that. And when we always prayed before we ate, we always had to be steady together. God bless our food and be always with us. Amen. And we always had to say that. And evenings we kneel down to prayer when we were children. And anywhere we went as a family, we go visit mom or somebody come and visit us, any friends or anything. We said always a prayer if we go away from home, like I go visit from Illinois to Wisconsin, we all take hands to go circle, and mom says a prayer for everyone. And then every time we walk out from the door, mom says, Jesus be with you. That always she said that, no matter who it was walk out of that door, she always, Jesus be with you. And so that's my things that I just want to show this, my mom at my wedding. So she was tiny little lady. Does anybody know Ina Schilling? She's just like a tiny little lady full of energy can do anything, everything. was nothing impossible for her. Now this is her name. Can anybody read this? Say that. That's her first name and middle one is her maiden name and that's our last name. Her first name is Aune Kullikki and middle name is Mustonen and our last name was Vimro. So that's a really hard name to say. I think she had the longest first name you ever heard. So bless her, mom and dad. So my tiny little mom, 2018 we celebrated our 50 years in the United States. So I made a picture, back then we didn't have paste and copy. We had to concut everybody's picture. I made a picture of our family. This was 2018. That's what eight years ago, 10 years ago, eight years ago. And now there's probably, we are close to 100 now. Our family is so big. So we are very blessed. And you know, are, God has blessed our family well and just see, made sure that we was always praying and pray for everybody who needed it and stop and pray for people if you needed something. So I thank God for my mother. And I was going to bring Rachel's mom, speaks and I forgot, and I don't know, never knew her. And I don't know if somebody knows here too, but She must be a wonderful mother. He's a good husband, great husband.

Speaker 5: My mom asked me last Sunday if she got to know what story I was gonna tell before I told it. I said no. But no, just a few things that I learned from my mom and attributes I have that are definitely from her. I learned to love baking from her. She loves to bake. I also learned that it's okay to eat the cookie dough. My grandma would never let us do that. But mom will bake one pan of cookies and the rest of the dough goes in the freezer to eat. I also learned just how to take care of my home and to make it feel cozy and welcoming. Mom's house always feels like that. It always feels like home to me when I walk. Walk in and like I tried to make my home like that as well. And I learned how to be a bargain shopper from my mother. So my senior year prom, we went shopping. Do you know what story I'm getting ready to tell? No. My senior year, we went shopping with my best friend and her mom. And I think we were at Von Maar or some higher-end department store like that. And at the time the style of dress that was really popular was like the sleeveless corset top big tool princess skirt. And I saw this dress, green is my favorite color, all shades of green. I saw this teal dress that was that style beating on, it was absolutely stunning. I loved it. I looked at the price tag and I thought, I'm not even trying that on because my mom's not gonna buy it. And so I found other dresses. My friend and I are in the fitting room trying on these dresses, and my mom comes in with the teal gown. And she says, just try it on. So I did. Fit like a glove. Looks like it was made for me. They are telling me how beautiful it is. Even mom was like, That is the most beautiful dress. And I'm thinking, okay, she brought me this. Maybe I'm gonna get it. They were talking about how wonderful it is, and then she looks at me and says, Okay, take it off. We're going somewhere else.

Speaker 6: Ha ha ha.

Speaker 2: And I was like

Speaker 5: She's ruthless, no I'm kidding. But no, she taught me, I said even my wedding dress was actually on sale and I loved it, but she taught me to be a bargain shopper. She introduced me to TJ Maxx and Marshalls at a young age. And we don't buy anything that's full price, I don't think. But no, she we Emily and I love doing girls' days with her. We go shopping, we love going we'll make wreaths, we'll go make candles, anything that we can go do together, as long as she doesn't have to drive, she's in. But no, she has taught me so many wonderful things and I hope that I get to be half the mom that she is.

Speaker 2: Thank you, Amanda. Jim?

Speaker 4: My mother didn't want me. She told me she would have rather had a girl. Well here I am and I ain't no girl.

Speaker 2: Okay.

Speaker 6: Okay.

Speaker 4: I don't mean to speak ill of of her. Think was raised by strict parents, and the poor lady had a rough time most of her entire life. The lady I want to praise this morning is Ada. She lived down the street from me. She was the one that kept me out of the ER when I did something stupid. She was the one that patched me up so I could go home without my mother having a really bad reaction to what I had just done. Ada was strong, very stable and very loving. And I just want people to know the sweet lady Ada was.

Speaker 2: Course you know my mother, most of the anyway, if you don't know it, it's her over there. so when Ruth asks us to do this at work the next day, I asked mom, I'm like, so what story do you want me to tell about you? As you know, my mom is amazing. She does everything. She's crafty. She's smart. She's gifted and talented in ways it it's just almost repulsive.

Speaker 1: you

Speaker 2: So she says to me, Well, I suppose you can tell him what Kent Hollecker told me. I'm like, Kent Hollecker was one of my dad's very best friends. And I'm like, okay, I don't I don't think I know where this is going. She says, Well, some time ago. In the newspaper, there was an article about the little cemetery across from mom and dad's house. At the time, mom was contracted to mow that cemetery. And the article in the newspaper was like, This cemetery's always so well taken care of. It's so beautiful. I just really appreciate how this cemetery looks so nice. And Kent's like, Wow, Teresa, of all the things you do. You're getting praised in the Lebanon Reporter for mowing a yard. So I want you to know Mom's good at that too. One of the things I most appreciate about my mom and that I want to be more like is being a better wife. So it tells us how to do this. A wife of noble character, who can find? She's worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still night. She provides food for her family and portions for her female servants. She considers a field and buys it. Out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously. Her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. When it snows she has no fear for her household, for all of them are clothed in scarlet. She makes coverings for her bed. She is clothed in fine linen and purple. Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them. She supplies the merchants with sashes. She is clothed with strength and dignity. She can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children ri arise and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her. Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting. But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate. That's Proverbs thirty one. And I know that That mom has tried to model her life after that and I am thankful that I got to be her daughter.

Speaker 6: like to read a story that I wrote about my grandmother, my mother's mother. This is fiction based on fact. And My grandfather, whom I never knew, died in the flu epidemic of nineteen actually he died in nineteen eighteen, which I'm sure all all of you have heard about. And so this is about her and her things that she went through. Her name was Rosa. We called her grandma Rosie. Rosa Scott sat down in her rocking chair, making sure she grasped the arms tightly to steady her weary body. She closed her eyes and dozed off for a few moments. She awoke with a start and wondered what had awakened her when she suddenly felt the movement of the child she was carrying. At the same time, her two-year-old daughter, Edna, my mother, called to her from the Davenport. At the same time time as she heard her daughter call, she woke up and wondered what was what her daughter wanted. My grandmother was expecting my mother's brother at this time. And my mother was my mother was born January twenty-seventh in nineteen sixteen and then she had her second child, the one I'm talking about, on January twenty fourth, nineteen eighteen. Rosa went to pick her up and comfort her, telling her that everything was alright. As she did so, tears welled up in her eyes and she prayed that everything would be alright. Since her husband Elmer had come down with the flu in December, her world had been turned upside down. Even though all the neighbors around them had become sick and some of them had even died with the flu epidemic, she and Her husband had hoped it would pass them by. He had always been a hard worker and in good health and had his life ahead of him. But one night he went to help a farmer who was delivering a calf. He was out in the cold for several hours, and the next day he began running a fever. But the doctor said, You're a strong person. Mabel you will be able to fight this. Rosa, you feed him plain broth without any sh and tea without sugar. Get a hold of me in two days if he is not better. The following morning it appeared as though Elmer might be better. His temperature went down and he was not coughing as much. He was eager to eat and even asked for a slice of toast. The following morning. Rosa was feeding her husband when she felt a twang of pain, twinge of pain in her lower stomach, knowing instantly it was the first signs of labor. She knew the labor neighbor lady would be here to help her husband, so she waited until the neighbor lady came and then went to bed. Her son was born in just a short time. As the hours ticked by, her husband's health grew worse, and in just a few days he was gone. He died on January twenty-ninth when my uncle was only five days old. Little Otis, we called him Uncle Odie, proved proved to be a good baby, and was content to lay beside the one who had given him life. Two And then her husband was gone and she had him no longer.

Speaker 2: Mm.

Speaker 6: Rosa felt numb when she realized that her husband was gone and she had these two little children to raise. Edna, my mother, was bewildered by everything that had happened, and stayed in the bedroom with her mother, afraid that she might leave too. Later that night Rosa lay in bed with her little girl beside her and her baby boy on the other. She stared into the darkness and wondered how she would ever make it through the next few days, the next three years. What did her future hold? Well, she would just have to make it, and somehow she did. She had been taught to be strong and she would prove to others that she was strong. And my grandma. Grandmother was from Kentucky and came up to Indiana to live, and she outlived four of her children, and she died when she was in her 90s. But she would often say, I'm a strong Kentuckian, I'm a tough Kentuckian. And she lived with my parents for a while and then she moved to Ohio and lived with my mom's sister. And she was in a nursing home and she would lay in bed and she would sing my old Kentucky home, and the lady in the next bed would sing her song. And so there were two different songs going on at the same time. My grandmother did remarry and had four more children, but she lived on a farm. We loved going to her farm, but I she was just one of those strong women and I'm thankful for the strength that she gave my mother and for the strength that I gained from her too. She was just grandma Rosie was a great, great grandma too.

Speaker 2: So my mom was a mom that ever everybody liked. We we had the farm that was closest to town and it didn't make any difference what was going on We always had plenty of kids at our house. If somebody needed a place to go, they were at our house, and everybody called her mom. She was a 4-H leader for 30 years and we had the largest club in Allen County, and we had 38 at that time. And for them that was a a pretty big group. And my brother's friends would always be at our house too. And so especially when it got to be March madness, because everybody else was in the country and we lived close enough to town that they could all get in the cars and they could make it to the to the basketball games and so forth. And mom would always have soup and plenty of food and everything for people to to take care of. We also, because we live that close, we had chickens. And on the first Friday of every month, we butchered those chickens. And so it became an event for the town. And she was so good she could go out and she could grab two chickens and she put a little lasso around them and flip those two chickens over the clothesline and had that butcher knife and just and she had their heads off just so fast. And then the guys in the in the that were the boys in the neighborhood would come and release that loop and let them run all over the place. And so they thought that was pretty cool. But that was just something that we did growing up. And on Saturday we always cleaned house and if we got it done by two o'clock we got to go to Fort Wayne, to Murphy's and get donuts. And that was always a big thing. my mom basically sewed all of my clothes, but she didn't teach me to sew. She said that we wouldn't get along that well and we didn't she didn't want me to be upset. So she had the neighbor lady teach me how to how to sew. And so she was just a mother to everybody. And I think that's instilled in me. And I just the kids that I have at school, you know, it's kind of that way that that I get to be their mom and I and I appreciate that. And my mom It's you weren't supposed to be the best friend, but I could tell my mother anything. And my mom knew everything. And if anything happened at school, I'd always go home and tell her. And I also knew that if anything happened, that my mom was gonna know it before I got home. So I better mind my P's and Q's. And for one of the Our mother and daughter teas or banquets that we had here. My mom was driving down and my dad always said she had a lead foot, but she was a little bit behind and she got to one of the overpasses and the police picked her up for speeding. And I knew that she was late getting here and I was kind of worried and so forth. And she walked in and I said, Are you okay? Is everything okay? And she said, Yes, but I just met the nicest little sheriff and I said, Well Okay. And she said, I I got stopped for speeding. I said, Well, did you get a ticket? And she said, No, he said that I was too much like his grandma and it was just too sweet that he couldn't give me a ticket. So that was my mom. She was here and several of you got to meet her, and she was one of the best ladies that that ever existed, and I just love her still with all my heart. And I just hope that that I am able to share those things with others. I'm gonna ask Sam to close with prayer and then you're dismissed.

Speaker 1: Gracious Heavenly Father, we come to you in joy today for the stories that we heard, for the memories that we have made, for the lives that have been shaped and formed, Father. For being a mother is one of the highest callings that you called women to, to shape the souls of their children, to even lead the hearts of their husbands at times. And Father, you've given them a special purpose in this life. to be loved and to cherish and to love and cherish themselves. And Father, we thank you today and we praise you for them as this is a day that we remember them, that we give them honor as it says in Proverbs 31, that we stand up and call them blessed. And so Father, we pray today that the hearts of the youth would be turned to their parents and the parents, their hearts to their children. And so as we go from this place, that this time would be a time of remembrance and a time that renews in us love for each other. We thank you Father for your love for us. We pray in your precious name, amen. You are dismissed, go in peace.

Speaker 2: Don't forget y the roses, ladies.