My mother's hands

I looked closely at my hands today. They are looking more and more like my mothers.
What a compliment!

I used to look at them and think "man, Im getting older!", but I've come to realize that they look at awful lot like my mother's hands, and her's look like my grandmother's and that could be a good sign.

My mother is a mother among mothers. Deserving of a medal of honor for all the works she has done but unable to buy anything that would come even close to representing my feelings for her, I realized that the greatest compliment I could ever give her would be to be like her as she tries to be like Christ.

My mom is:
- A "mother" to hundreds, but specifically to the sixteen or seventeen souls that have lived with her. Two of those sixteen or so are "God given" (born of her womb), the others "God Sent"(adopted, foster, or just live-in's) were sent to her as a gift from God to cherish and love.
- She is "mentor" to countless numbers of people, most of which she will never see again in this lifetime probably but owe her a debt of gratifude for her "strong love" and caring hands.
- She is "teacher" to thousands. Past, Present, and future, there is no way to know how many people she has taught. English is her given trade of education and believe me, every college freshman that took first semester English quietly (or even a loud) blessed her name for making them read all those 'classics' in high school. If you were one of the lucky ones to 'clep out' of those english classes a kiss on her feet was not out of the question!
- She is "friend" to a great many of those same students now. She is faithful in her friendship and true. She is not quick to judge and struggles when she is let down.
- She is "professional" to the nth degree. It never ceases to amaze me how she continues to impress others. The moment I believe she is poising herself to bow out, she cannot. She is too dedicated to her calling yet gives God the chance to replace her almost yearly.

I vaguely see myself in my mother. Some of these characteristics are attainable in my future, some I don't believe I will ever be able to obtain. Perhaps the fact that my hands resemble hers is a sign that there is hope for me yet.

My prayer: God...let it be!