My mom had a saying she would often recite to my brothers and me while growing up. Usually it was said while doing a household chore, or being told the word no. It was always said in partial jest and with a little smirk on her face.
“You’ll thank me one day!”
One day… she was talking about the day when we have our own homes, when we would be raising our own children, and when we would have our own responsibilities and make our own choices. As a teenager I can remember my mom instructing us how to properly rinse the dishes and load the dishwater. We were given basic responsibilities, like making our beds, cleaning the bathrooms, and feeding the dog (one I was never good at…poor dog). I even recall her many times coming up behind me and gently pulling my shoulders back in an effort to break my bad habit of hunching. “You’ll thank me one day, dear daughter,” she would say.
There was a method to her madness. In those little things, she was teaching us character. She was setting the ground work for our future. She was training us to be servants, without any expectation of gratitude or imbursement.
Well, mom, today is that day! After almost nine year of marriage, now with my own home and raising three children, I want to say thank-you…
Thank-you, mom, for teaching me (and my brothers) how to cook and keep house.
Thank-you, mom, for allowing me to be myself during those awkward, tomboy years – instead of trying to make me the daughter you probably imagined I would be.
Thank-you, mom, for balancing correction with love.
Thank-you, mom, for making car rides fun with music and candy.
Thank-you, mom, for setting the example of a servant, especially toward dad and the ladies at church.
Thank-you, mom, for making the sacrifice to work a job (on top of homemaker) so that our family was provided for.
Thank-you, mom, for all the godly counsel. I admire how you’re always bearing the burdens of others and pointing them to Truth. In this you have a gift.
Thank-you, mom, for squashing my pride from time to time so that I don’t take myself too seriously.
Thank-you, mom, for letting me speak openly with you and for sharing your heart with me.
Thank-you, mom, for being a giver, especially of your time.
These ten only scratch the surface of my gratitude. My mom is a blessing to my entire family. She’s my best friend, and I hope to follow her example now that one day is here.
