Love Always . . . Your Daughter

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Love Always . . . Your Daughter I often write about blessings. But I haven't written much about my parents, yet. I've been thinking about it, of course. Because they have been a HUGE blessing in my life over these many years. So this Christmas seemed like the time to finally get something written. On Thanksgiving I wrote about my mom. I wrote that I was thankful that she was a “go-with- the-flow” kind of person who was not high strung, irritable, or easily angered. Then later, I was thinking about how both my parents are so very much 1Corinthians 13 kind of people. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1Corinthians 13:4-7

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Something I wanted to share about my mom and dad. They are awesome!

Transcript of Love Always . . . Your Daughter

Page 1: Love Always . . . Your Daughter

Love Always . . . Your Daughter

I often write about blessings. But I haven't written much about my parents, yet. I've been thinking about it, of course. Because they have been a HUGE blessing in my life over these many years. So this Christmas seemed like the time to finally get something written.

On Thanksgiving I wrote about my mom. I wrote that I was thankful that she was a “go-with- the-flow” kind of person who was not high strung, irritable, or easily angered. Then later, I was thinking about how both my parents are so very much 1Corinthians 13 kind of people.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1Corinthians 13:4-7

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Well, there is no way I could do a better job of describing my parents than that. They have always been there for my two sisters and me, through our childhood, through our tumultuous teen years, and through our often traumatic and dramatic adult years.

Patient, kind, believing in us, holding out hope for us when things didn't look good. Persevering in prayer. No matter how far away we might be, if we needed help with moving or someone to listen, they were there. My mom was there when my babies were born. She may not have had all the answers for curing the colic and that sort of thing, but her calming presence helped a lot!

I think about the “patient” part especially. My parents were, and still are, so very, very patient.

But besides that and all those other wonderful words, there is another word that so perfectly describes my parents. My parents are creative!! And I bet they have never seen themselves for the true artists they have always been or thought about all the creativity involved in how they have expressed their love.

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I think about all the great meals my mom created over the years and those awesome award winning pies! She told me that it was important to make some cuts in the top crust so the pie could breathe and wouldn't explode or whatever the deal was. But, you know, my mom wouldn't just cut ordinary slits in them. She always took her knife and drew a flower on the top of those pies!

And the other day I was looking through a wonderful scrap book my mom had made for me several years ago, with photos of my childhood and school papers she had saved all those years. And I saw so many pictures of my sisters and me in those beautiful matching dresses she made for us!

Mom started out with the matching dresses right from the start. Even before I had sisters, she made me a dress to match hers.

She was very wise about the matching thing too. As we got older and developed in our own uniqueness, the dresses and other outfits became less and less identical. Then, as we grew

more secure in our individuality, matching became acceptable again.

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This is the three of us in our last set of matching dresses. I was already married and pregnant with my first child. Mom wanted to make me a maternity dress. And since those loose fitting dresses were in style, she made some for my sisters too. She even made little belts for each one too in case we got tired of the maternity look and wanted a variation.

My dad has always been a creative person too, always finding ways to take whatever he had to work with and make it into something

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special. I remember those family road trips when he would take a large piece of plywood and cover the back seat and floor area to make it all level. Then he would cover it all with layers of blankets so we could have a comfortable place to sleep and play.

I remember him making us desks and doll houses, and other special presents, working long hours in “Santa's secret workshop”. He even made us a fancy play house with real windows! And sometimes he got help from other relatives for the most difficult parts, but that is all part of creativity and bringing in the best resources to make something truly amazing!

I was impressed just recently too, when my parents came to my house. My basement had gotten flooded a couple of months before. I was feeling just too overwhelmed trying to clean up the damage to even be able to think about needing to find a way to prevent it from happening again. But my dad was thinking ahead and he designed and put together a cover for the window well and dug a trench to redirect the rain water. He did that, working hard in the hot sun and even though his hands are shaky, making it hard to hold the nails. Because that's what love does!

And now, just like when we were kids, he always thought what he

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could do for us was never good enough, was always wishing he could do more. But, you know, when the next big rain storm came just a week or so later, that makeshift cover and trench worked just fine and my basement stayed dry! And what he made for us and did for us when we were kids, well, that was enough too, and it was good, and it all turned out just fine!

My dad has definitely been a very patient person too. Not an animal lover himself, he tolerated our pets and all the work and such that was involved, even mourning with us and burying them when they passed on. Which, on at least one occasion, also provided some humor in the family. After observing the burial of our pet cat, my little sister came bursting excitedly into the

house, shouting, “Mommy, Mommy, Daddy planted the kitty and now we're gonna grow more kitties!!”

I think about how patience and creativity fit together in so many ways. It does take a lot of patience to create. Like the way I would watch my mom tearing out the seams and doing them over so they would be perfect. And like the way God had to have just tons of patience when he created us, right?

So I think about God's patience and about my parents' patience, especially during those years when I was just not appreciative at all.

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When you're a parent, well, you just don't know if it's all going to be worth the hard work, and sacrifice, and tears.

But you keep on protecting, trusting, hoping, and persevering. Because that's what love does! Always!

RoseDQ (Brenda) December 2010