I have had this annoying cough for about a month now.  I get it every spring, so I know it is allergy-related.  I have taken all kinds of medicines over the years, but I have learned I am blessed if I can sleep at night.  I have had many suggestions of how to stop my cough.  The most come from my precious mother.

She has told me about different medicines to try and has searched the internet.  Mom forwards me things from Facebook that will cure or help my cough.  My mom and dad have recently moved near us, and Mom has taken up where she left off.  Not that she has ever stopped being my mother, but she is nearby so she is more aware of the things going on in my life.  My mom has sent over home-cooked goodies, she has offered to help in so many ways, she has given me all kinds of home remedies to fix what ails me, and she worries about me not getting enough rest.  The great love she has for me is obvious.  She is in her seventies, and I am in my fifties, but that does not seem to matter.  I guess you never stop being a mom.

I assumed once the children were grown and started families of their own  we would not worry about them as much.  My husband and I have not found that to be the case.  It still hurts when they hurt, we are concerned when they are sick, we still worry when they worry, and we love them even more than we ever thought we could.   When they were home, we had firsthand knowledge of the struggles and victories in their lives.  Now, we watch from afar.  Not that we are perfect, but we have been around awhile, and we like to think we can keep them on the right track.  They do a good job all by themselves, but mothers tend to want to fix things, and I am no different.   That never changes either.

As the children have gotten older, they have given me an additional blessing.  I get to be Mom to their spouses, too.  Oh, I don’t take the place of their mothers, but hopefully I can be Mom #2.  I have double the children to care for and to love.  And if that wasn’t enough, I have ten grandchildren to cherish as well.  So, I guess I feel like the mother of my tribe.  My heart keeps growing, and it never stops loving.

In some ways, a woman also becomes a mother to her own mother as she ages.  I probably annoy my parents as I tend to mother them now.  They are very capable, but I worry about them, too.  My mother-in-law is in the nursing home, and she is dependent on others mothering her.  In fact, I guess there are several people whom I feel I need to look out for who are much older than I.  Does it ever stop?

Sometimes my adult children have to remind me they are grown.  I do my best to respect their wishes and not “butt in.”  Sometimes when I do offer unsolicited advice, I will get the look that says, “Mom, I am over thirty years old now.  I can handle this.”  Of course, sometimes I get the honor of being asked for advice.   When your children ask for your input, you know they feel you have wisdom to share.

As I get older, I have had more and more opportunities to admire my children and their wisdom.  They are each very wise in their own way.  All of my children are hard workers and that makes me very proud.  I am praying  I never become dependent on my children, but if I live a long life that is very possible.  One day they will be taking care of me.  One day they will be giving me advice and telling me things I don’t want to hear.  I guess they already do that sometimes.  Maybe I am older than I think.

As I age, I pray to do so gracefully.  I hope I will be a mother who will have the right words to say, the comfort to share, the arms that hold, the admiration that is earned, but most of all the wisdom of the Lord to share.  I would like my reputation to be of the Titus 2 woman in Scripture.

I want my children to be able to say of me that my behavior portrayed holiness, I was never a false accuser, and never given to wine.  I taught good things and was a good example to the younger women.  I was able to teach them to be good wives and mothers by my own example. (Based on Titus 2:3-5)

If I can be remembered in this manner, I would have been the godly example I strive to be.  Unfortunately I fail, but by God’s grace I will keep on trying.

“Now also when I am old and grey headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to everyone that is to come.”

Psalms 71:18

May this be my epitaph!

Thank you, Lord, for my mother!

 Mrs. Worthington has five children and ten grandchildren.  She serves as

Principal of Pathway Christian Academy in Goldsboro.