Hugs for Mom Stories, Sayings, And Scriptures to Encourage And Inspire

Chapter One Nurturing Hearts Cultivate faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control,perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love in yourchildren. For if they are growing in these qualities, theywon't be ineffective or unproductive, and they willnever stumble. Love, Your Living God 2 Peter 1:5-11, Jeremiah 10:10 Inspirational Message You may not realize it, but you are a gifted gardener. Thoughyou may be incapable of keeping a simple houseplant alive, youare an accomplished gardener nonetheless. The soil you work in isnot of this world. No! It is the soil of the human heart. Your children are your fertile field, and in their hearts youhave tenderly planted your seeds of love, joy, peace, patience,kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. At times, you have courageously protected your precious fieldfrom destructive and uninvited strangers. When spiritual orphysical disease threatened, you worked with bleeding hands tofree the roots of life from contaminants. You have nursed thewounds left by the violent storms of life. You have struggledthrough seasons of drought; you have celebrated at the sight ofunhampered growth. You have weeded, watered, plowed, and prayed. In turn, you should know that your labor of love has not goneunnoticed. You are deeply loved and appreciated - not onlyby hearts you have tended and cared for, but by the God who madeyou the mother (and expert gardener) you are. God bless you, Mom. There never was a woman like her. She was gentle as a dove andbrave as a lioness . . . The memory of my mother and her teachings were, after all, theonly capital I had to start life with, and on that capital I havemade my way. --Andrew Jackson Mother's Cherry Tree My mother loved all growing things. We had apple trees, peartrees, a grape arbor, a rose arbor, tulips, lilacs, irises, andan annual garden. The Merdocks, who lived directly west of us,had a large cherry orchard. Although they gave us all thecherries we wanted, my mother was determined to have her owncherry tree. Accordingly, one fall we planted (I say"we" because I dug the hole) a three-foot sapling.Mother fertilized, watered, watched over, pampered, and strokedthat tree until it was a wonder it didn't die from too muchattention. It was amazing how it grew, and in its second springit actually blossomed and bore cherries - not enough to makea pie - but my mother was so proud of the accomplishmentthat she nearly burst. She even carried some of those cherries inher purse to show her friends. We always shopped at the A & P grocery store in Royal Oak.Fortunately for me, just down the street was Frentz & SonsHardware. While my mother shopped, I wandered up and down theaisles of Frentz & Sons. It was a fascinating place. Greatbins of nails, rows of hinges, racks of shovels, balls ofSmith, John E. is the author of 'Hugs for Mom Stories, Sayings, And Scriptures to Encourage And Inspire' with ISBN 9781416534006 and ISBN 1416534008.