It seems I have been a stranger to my computer for the past couple of weeks! My step-mother, Miss Gertrude, fell week before last and broke her hip. Then last week she had surgery on Tuesday afternoon and seemed to do well. But early on Wednesday morning she passed away. It was very sudden and we were not expecting it. But we know she was a Christian and is now walking and talking with loved ones in Heaven. She would have been 91 years old in three weeks. I miss her. So today I wanted to post something that I wrote almost 10 years ago. Back then I titled it "My Three Mothers" and if you've been my friend for a while you've most likely already read it. This is a tribute to not only Miss Gertrude, but to my mama Wardie, and my mother-in-law Hazel. I hope it will convey to you how special these three Mothers were to me!
"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31: 10
I'd like to tell you about my three mothers.
The Mother that birthed me into the world was with me for only sixteen years. Then she went home to be with the Lord. But during the years she was with me, she taught me many things about the Christian life. She was the best Christian woman I ever knew. In fact, I believe that many of the blessings I enjoy today as an adult are the direct result of some of the prayers she prayed for me. Her name was Wardie, which I always thought was very old fashioned. But it suited her. She was an old-fashioned person. She had old-fashioned values and an old-fashioned faith in God. She was always telling me things like, "Pretty is as pretty does." and "Two wrongs don't make a right". She taught me by example to be honest, thrifty, and kind.
She taught me how to sew Barbie clothes and eventually my own clothes. My Mama was the anchor in my life and when she died in March of the year when I was sixteen, I didn't know how I could go on with my life. Only by the grace of God did I struggle through the next few years. "She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." Proverbs 31: 26
When I was nineteen, I got married. Mrs. Hazel, my new mother-in-law, became my "second mama". Mrs. Hazel taught me to garden and can vegetables. I had never done any of this before because I grew up in town. She was one of the very best cooks I have ever known. We would get together when the garden came in and can two or three canners full of vegetable soup. Then she would give me half of all we had canned and keep the other half for her and Mr. Jewell. But the funny thing was that I always got the half that was just not quite as good as the half she kept. We could eat it at her house and it was the most delicious soup I had ever put in my mouth...I could eat some of the same batch that I had taken home and for some reason it just didn't taste the same. She just had that special touch. "She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness." Proverbs 31: 27
The year after I married, my widowed Daddy married a lady named Gertrude. She became my "third Mama". I figured since I was already married myself, I was too old to start calling her Mama so I have always called her "Miss Gertrude". She has been such a blessing to me over the years. God surely must have wanted to give my Daddy a special blessing when he gave him "Miss Gertrude" for a helpmeet. She has shown me how to enjoy life. Whether cooking for a crowd, fishing for crappie, taking a walk or pulling weeds in the flowerbed, she enjoyed every minute of it. "Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her." Proberbs 31: 28
I truly count myself as blessed for having three of the best Mothers a person could have. Each one of them had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and because of that I know I will have a joyous reunion with them someday.
"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised." Proverbs 31: 30
Marilyn
