Like My Mother Does

"Like My Mother Does"

 

People always say
I have a laugh
Like my mother does
Guess that makes sense
She taught me how to smile
When things get rough

I've got her spirit
She's always got my back
When I look at her
I think, I want to be just like that

When I love I give it all I've got
Like my mother does
When I'm scared, I bow my head and pray
Like my mother does

When I feel weak and unpretty
I know I'm beautiful and strong
Because I see myself like my mother does

I never met a stranger
I can talk to anyone
Like my mother does
I let my temper fly
And she can walk away
When she's had enough

She sees everybody
For who they really are
I'm so thankful for her guidance
She helped me get this far

When I love I give it all I've got
Like my mother does
When I'm scared, I bow my head and pray
Like my mother does

When I feel weak and unpretty
I know I'm beautiful and strong
Because
I see myself like my mother does

 

She's a rock
She is grace
She's an angel
She's my heart and soul
She does it all

When I love I give it all I've got
Like my mother does
When I'm scared, I bow my head and pray
Like my mother does

When I'm weak and unpretty
I know I'm beautiful and strong
Because
I see myself like my mother does
Like my mother does

I hear people saying
I'm starting to look like my mother does.

(Lyrics from AZlyrics.com) Perform by Lauren Alaina (American Idol season 11), compoesd by Nathan Chapman, Liz Rose, and Nikki Williams

 

       As a student teacher a couple of years ago, I attended the high school's beauty pageant, where I heard a young woman perform this song as the judges tallied scores. It brought tears to my eyes and has stuck with  me ever since. I had never heard anything so accurate about my mother; I felt as if this girl was singing about Bev herself! When we left, I looked it up on my phone and downloaded it then listened over and over so I could learn it and sing it myself. I have never actually been able to finish the song; at some point, I begin to cry. I mean really cry, tears rolling down my face. This song sums up my mother so perfectly.

       I've rarely, if ever, been told I look like my mother, but I am so much like her and proud to say so. She is so kind and loving and totally, completely, 100% selfless. I'm still working on the "selfless" part, but I try to model the kindness and love that she extends to others, especially those who seem to need it most.

      Now more than ever, I am so thankful to have been raised in a Christian home, especially as we evolve into a society and an America turning further and further from its Christian foundation. I have my mom to thank for much of that, along with my dad. Together, they have taught us the morals and values that I will pass on to my children and that I hope will be passed on to theirs. My mom has taught me from day one "Love others. Love them and pray for them; never judge or criticize." It's something I'm constantly reminding myself. When people are hateful, love them. When they are hurtful, whether to themselves or others, love them. When they are prideful or spiteful, love them. When they oppose you, love them. When they are for you, love them. Love is such an enormous part of who my mother is and who I hope to be one day.

       My mom is a Godly woman, a woman whose head I've seen bowed in prayer so many times throughout my life. Without her faithful praying, I can't help but wonder where I would be today, if she didn't constantly pray for God's hand in my life, that He lead me whereever He wants me. As God knits this perfect little human piece by piece inside of me, I think of my mother as I pray for him. If I could add up all the prayers she has surely prayed to the Lord up to this very moment, I wonder what the number would be. A hundred thousand maybe? Two hundred thousand? I'm sure the number would amaze me but not surprise me. She is not perfect by any means, but she's a Godly woman in a world that seems to be running low on them now, a woman I can look up to and turn to for sound advice, even when it's not exactly what I want to hear. I couldn't ask for a better Christian example, a better model of the mother I hope to be some day.

      

        In closing, we all think our mom is number one, and that's how it should be. In our eyes, no one can outdo her abilities in holding a home together, no one is more faithful, kind, or loving than she. But I've been blessed with a lady I know is special, a true gem, the kind of someone who only comes into the world every now and then. While I can be so ugly on the inside at times, I wonder why God gave her to me, me to her. She surely deserves only the best, and I know that's not always been me or my siblings. But I'm so thankful it was. He saw, long before we were ever even formed, that we needed her. He saw the things she would do for us, the way she would love us, and He must have thought "Yep, these crazy four have got to go to her." But I know she feels the same way. She needed us and wanted us long before she knew us. She prayed for us years before we made our arrival in her life.

        It is because of her unconditional faith in the Lord and prayers to Him that I am the young woman I am, and I'm glad to see myself little by little becoming more and more like her, and in the end, like Him. Happy Mother's Day to my amazing mother and to all the mothers out there. Each of you is special and so loved by so many. Thank you for all that you do!