I might as well make my letter to my mother today an open letter. The Scriptures command me to honor my mother. The closer I get to my dear Lord and the longer I walk with Him, the more I see that the commands of Christ are so sweet. What precious commands he gives to do things that bring such joy and fulfillment to such a deep place within us. So here is my way of obeying the fifth commandment today. This is the letter I just e-mailed to my mom, Jane Pierpont. My eyes are still wet with happy, grateful tears as I write these words.
Dear Mom;
Thank you for all you have done for so many years for all of us and for Dad. You have put music in our lives every day. You have put bread on the table.
Above all, thank you for treasuring Christ since you were in the third grade every day. People search musty books and travel to remote places to sit at the feet of sages to discover evidence of God or form arguments for the existence of God. I never had to do that. All I had to do was look in the next room and I could always see Him in you.
Thank you for doing all the things you had to do to make our home a fine, Christian home. God has rewarded you with 31 grandchildren so far. Imagine the far-reaching impact of your quiet faithfulness in small things. It will touch the lives of thousands if Jesus’ return is not soon.
I hope you know this morning that I love you and appreciate you and cherish you. Thank you for your song. Thank you for your constant instruction and conviction about the things of Christ. Thank you for maintaining high standards all your live that clearly flowed from a heart of love for Christ. Thank you for making me clothes, meals, even making my bed. (I still feel guilty about that one).
I was traveling with the boys the other day on the way to a speaking assignment and quizzing them on basic Bible knowledge. I found myself praying that I could instruct my children in the Bible and theology as well as you did us. Thank you so much for all those JOY Clubs and Good News Clubs and Five Day Clubs and after school teachings. I have such a love for stories and for singing and for the Bible. I know that you are largely responsible for that.
I remember doing the funeral of an elderly woman one day. At the close standing at the head of the casket her son was the last one to say goodbye before the casket was closed. He stood and wept and then, suddenly, without warning grabbed his mother’s body and began to pull it up and cried out over and over again in a pitiful voice, “O mother, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me mother, I’m sorry.”
His pitiful cries rang in my ears for a long time. I don’t want to come to the end of my life and leave the important things unsaid. If any good comes from my life, I owe it to you and Dad. Not just because I came into this world through you but because of your clear, continual, continual Christian that flowed out of the fountain of love for Christ within you.
I wish I could buy you expensive gifts today and be with you and take you to a fine restaurant. I wish I could afford to take you to some lovely place that you would enjoy and remember for the rest of your life. I will tell you this, Mom. I want you to know that I am going to do my best with all my heart to see that your grandchildren carry the same temperature of faith that is in you to their children, your great-grandchildren. One day we will have riches that are beyond the scope of our finite imagination. One day we will travel to a place so beautiful and wonderful beyond human description and we will be together forever there with all the rough edges taken off, all the pain and sadness of sin lifted forever, and to think in the presence of the One whom we have loved without seeing for so long.
Thank you most of all for making Him real to my heart. I love you, Mom.
Ken
Mother’s Day?May 8, 2005
