Things My Mother Taught Me

I have learned a lot of valuable lessons from my mother during my childhood. In fact, I'm still learning from those subtle lessons that are now more important than ever to me as I work to raise my children. I just want to share some of those wonderful things I learned as a child from my mother, and now as an adult trying to teach my own children.

When I was a child my mother taught many lessons of what is right and what is wrong. I remember my mom switching the TV channels and explaining how to know the sound of a Soap Opera verses another movie. She made sure we knew at a young age that Soap Opera's were not good for us and to switch from a station that sounded like that. (If anyone wants to know why Soap Operas are not good, let me know and I'll be willing to talk with you about it.)
She also taught us not to watch certain cartoons. She didn't just simply forbid us from watching something, she always explained why we shouldn't watch it and what the problems were with the cartoon or show.

My mother was also the one who taught me not to say "bad" words. I didn't get in trouble the first time I came home from off the school bus and asked my mother what a word meant. She simply asked me where I heard it from and explained that there were certain words that were considered bad words and that if I didn't know a meaning of a word that I shouldn't say it unless I look it up. So then she had me go to the bookshelf and look it up in the dictionary. That day I knew what to do with words I didn't know.

I learned so many other things from my mother. I learned to be quiet in church. I learned to be respectful. I remember several times my mother taking me aside and adjusting my attitude problem. Even though I may not liked it, I knew she was right. She always explained why I was being disciplined.

She taught me to be generous and giving. My mother would give of her time and money to many good endeavors. I knew she loved people by how much she did for them. She showed her love to us kids by giving us things we needed and quite often the things we wanted. I realize now that we may not have needed everything that she gave to us children, but that it was her love that made her want to give it. I don't remember very many things she bought for herself. She always wanted to spend her money on her children and now she enjoys spending her money on her grandchildren as well.

She taught us, how bad divorce was. We may not have known exactly why divorce was such a horrible thing at the time, but we knew that it was a cause of a lot of problems. Now as an adult I realize why divorce is so bad and am greatful to my mother for teaching me how to be committed to my husband and to talk over problems that we may have. My mom was always committed to my Dad and I knew she loved him and would back his decisions whenever they had to be made. She would give her opinion on a matter but always let him decide. He was always good about listening to her opinions on those matters and between the two of them, they would make the best decision possible. I learned a lot from her on how to be submissive but always willing to give advice in a loving way to my husband when it was needed. I am so glad that I have been able to learn from her great example. My husband and I are the best of friends, because of my parents' example.

Probably one of the most important lessons I learned from my mother, was the value of prayer. I learned that God wants to hear from us and no prayer is too small to be important to Him. I can even pray for a bad hair day and He listens. Although that doesn't mean he will always answer the way we want, but many times He will. For me prayer is quite a comfort when I am having a problem that I cannot solve on my own. I know he will listen and help me with whatever the situation may be.

Now that I am grown, I'm still gleaning from those and many other lessons I've learned from my mother. As I get older I find myself asking her for advice on life and how she handled the situations that I may be facing now. She has always been a patient ear ready to listen to my questions. I love my mother, and hope that I am able to pass on these valuable lessons to my children as well.

Proverbs 31:28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband [also], and he praiseth her.