Sunday, May 9, 2010

My Mom.

Dana Elizabeth
  that's her name... 
and during the past two years of my life she has been my closest companion. during a time when much of what i knew about myself & my personal history & where i came from & the places that i called home & my friends & my life was uprooted, my mom has been my safe place. 


she has pretty blue eyes & rosy cheeks, and a spirit that draws anyone and everyone to her. i don't know a single soul that doesn't thoroughly & genuinely enjoy my mother's company.
she is cute and funny and wise. 


she loves her family with the most giving love that i have ever seen. she goes and goes and goes and goes for us. 
she drives and sews and cooks and bakes and shops and reads books and giggles and prays and cries and intercedes and encourages and picks up after and stands by and respects and swings and watches dumb movies and loves and gives and loves and gives. 



she delights in pretty things.
she prides herself in making her home beautiful. her gift for hospitality is one that i have not seen mirrored in anyone else. she has the ability to create space that entices people to relax & open-up...to feel safe. she creates space that emanates the warmth & comfort of our ever-loving & accepting God.
  
she finds pleasure in hard work that results in beautiful things...
gardening, sewing, planting, cooking. 

my mom is tender...she teaches me lessons about & shows me how attractive tenderness is. she is full of buckets of grace for many people that do not deserve a drop of it from her. she stands by her husband & the promises of the Bible no matter what. she is one of the most faithful people i have ever met. 





dear mom, 
thank you for who you are in my life...who you've been and who you will become. you are home to me. on days that i am worn down and weary from life, i look forward to coming home to you. to our sweet smelling home, maybe a cup of hot tea, and to the comfort of my sweet mother. i long to make you proud and to be like you...to be kind and gentle and nurturing like you are. i know that i am difficult at times, but thank you for your constant love of the sometimes not-so-great person that i am. thank you for your acceptance of the person that i desire to become. in your actions you have personified devotion and been a great example of the kind of forgiveness that i am to offer others as a follower of Christ. thank you for the nights you spend watching movies & grey's anatomy with me...thanks for helping me decorate my room...thanks for laying in bed with me late at night, laughing and talking and reading and helping me not feel lonely. thanks for putting up with my crazy, irritating outbursts of complete strangeness and song. thanks for buying me shampoo & naan. thanks for planting pretty flowers in our front yard, so that when i pull into our driveway i get a warm & fuzzy feeling inside that whispers, "this is home." thanks for telling me that you're proud of me, and that you love me, and that you think i am talented. 

mom...i love you, too. 





Happy Mother's Day



4 comments:

Jamie Willow said...

first off...lovely post, I like your mom too!

second and kind of really random...in that last photo, because of how the light hits your mom and not you it looks like you photo shopped her into the picture or something. lol. cute though :) lots of great photos :)

Anonymous said...

Marmee. :)

Laura said...

I also love that woman. Luckily, I have had amazing examples of women in my life and she is one of them along with my own mama. I love you as well, Dana... even when you're being a "freak-out".... hehe.... Ash, am I going to get in trouble for that?? :-)

Cool blog, Al. Can't wait to see you.

Alexandria said...

"aw, gary."