Sunday, May 14, 2006

The Best Mother's Day Gift

This weekend has been the best Mother's Day weekend I could have ever asked for. First, I spent the day yesterday celebrating Family Day at the military-type residential school that my daughter attends. She'd be the first to admit that due to a series of "wrong turns", she has made some very poor choices over the past several years that resulting in her ending up there. So while she went there kicking and screaming, it less than 6 months, God has worked amazing miracles in her life and in our relationship. She's gone from a sullen, angry, depressed and apathetic "troubled teen", to a smiling, dedicated, focused, kind, and thoughtful young woman. She's gone from being a high-school dropout to one of the very top Cadets in her Class, and is excited about pursuing a career in the military after she graduates from the program in June. God truly does answer prayers!

Turning her life around, letting go of the anger issues she's been carrying for years (admittedly, some of which were warranted), deciding to make a commitment to excellence, and allowing God to work in her life are the best gifts she could have ever given me. What more could a mother ask for?

As if that wasn't enough, my best friend Ann had been thinking about the perfect Mother's Day gift to give me from my other "children" (my dog Gracie and kitties Michael and Jasmine). We decided to take advantage of some gift cards we'd gotten from Ann's husband to have dinner at a local Red Lobster last night. That idea fell flat immediately when we pulled into the parking lot and noticed there wasn't an empty space in sight and there was a line of families filing out of the front door. It seemed obvious that early Mother's Day dinners were in the works.

This morning, Ann decided (and I agreed whole-heartedly) to celebrate Mother's Day in a much better way - by helping other mothers to enjoy the day. So, she's off to Red Lobster now with 10 $10 gift cards in tow to bless 10 families today. She will be prayerfully planting seeds for those families that will receive the gift cards and for this ministry.

Today, I am a very Happy Mother!

2 comments:

Mary said...

Red Lobster is like that every single Saturday night, every weekend of the year, unfortunately.

What a wonderful idea about passing out the gift cards!

And what wonderful news about your daughter. I've been wondering how she's been doing there -- it sounds like the exact perfect place she was meant to be. Amazing! And congratulations, mom! :-)

Happy Mother's Day!

Shelley L. MacKenzie said...

With regard to your daughter, sometimes we have to hit rock bottom before we can change. Glad to hear things have turned around for her now :o)

What a great idea about handing out the giftcards. What a blessing to those 10 moms!