Honor Your Mother

In our younger years we think of the words ‘respect’ and ‘obedience’ when it comes to honoring our parents, but what about in the later years when we are adults and our parents are aging? With age comes failing health and limitations that may change our roles.  Here are just a few ways we can honor our mothers in their later years.

H - Help her remain independent as long as possible in her living situation, activities and self-care, respecting and maintaining her dignity. Keep in mind that for many years she made an incredible contribution to society with her talents, skills and abilities. Appreciate how difficult it is to lose mobility and the ability to remain active in a society that does not respect aging.

O - Offer assistance in whatever ways she will accept, such as providing transportation, navigating the mountains of paperwork that get more complicated each year, picking up groceries or running errands, making and keeping track of appointments. Be available.

N - Need her. Value her input into your life to the degree that she is able and desires to give it.  Ask her advice. Talk to her. Spend time with her. Listen to her stories, as many times as she wants to tell them! And if she doesn’t tell them, ask!

O - Overcome obstacles with her and for her. Find resources to help make her life easier. Overlook irritations and forget past hurts. Treat her with the love, compassion and respect you want from your children in your later vulnerable years.

R - Remember where she came from and what she lived through. If she grew up in the depression, of course she saves everything, doesn’t like wasting food, lives frugally and looks forward to getting mail in her mailbox! Understand this and don’t get frustrated by it. Remember how hard she worked and the personal sacrifices she made for the family. Remember that she gave you life and she let you live! Be thankful!  And if you were blessed (as I was) to have a mother who knew the Lord, she prayed for you and taught you about Him. Be grateful! Remember that humor goes a long way in keeping things good between you. Find things to laugh about. It’s good medicine.  

Do the best you can and when she is no longer with you you’ll have no regrets.

Not just on “Mothers’ Day” but every day, let’s honor our mothers.

So, Mom, I honor you today and thank God for giving me you. I miss you but I know that one day I will see you again in Glory! Absent from the body, present with the Lord.