Mother's Day is a special day where we come together as families, communities, and even nations to celebrate those women who have impacted our lives in so many ways through their example of faith. Below are just a few of the e-mails that were sent to the ChristianityToday.com Connection newsletter from readers who wanted us — and the entire ChristianityToday.com community — to know just how much their mothers and grandmothers mean to them. We hope these letters will help you gain a newfound appreciation of the impact that your mother and grandmothers have made in your own life.
Matt Donnelly
for the ChristianityToday.com staff

Afflicted, Yet Radiant
She grew up around the coal mines where her daddy worked, deep in the mountainous regions of Virginia. She came from a large poverty stricken family, so she learned how to be content with little. Dad and Mom were poor by the world's standards, but as a kid growing up, I did not know it. We were rich in so many other ways. Dad had two, sometimes three jobs, so Mom could stay home and be a full time mommy to her five children.

She hummed softly as she went about her work. It was as if she had blocked all the bad news out and was contemplating what was good and right and lovely. She was always living in the present, fondly reflecting the past, and looking forward to the future. She found that in the present there was love, in the past there was joy, and in the future there was hope.

I will not forget the day the doctors told us that Mom had terminal cancer. I was devastated by that news. Things did not seem to change for Mom, though. Whenever I visited her she was busy cooking or baking, doing a load of clothes, or sewing or working on something else. As she worked, she hummed a tune that seemed so beautiful to me.

I will never forget when I spoke with her about the cancer. She was so calm. She told me that this was not really her home. She said she had a home in Heaven and that she would be going there soon. She told me not to worry, that she would be all right. Although that brought tears to my eyes, she continued to hum. I saw a beauty in my mother that I had never seen before. In her affliction she had become radiant. When she died, she was 59 years old. I have replayed her words many times: "This is not my home. I have a home in Heaven. I'll be all right." She is at her eternal home today.

Since that time I have become a pastor of a church where I have had an opportunity to see many people, like Mom, go to another home. As I minister to many of them, I am reminded of her — afflicted, yet radiant.
Bill Fix
Taylor, MI

A Port in the Storm
My grandmother was the one who took me to church at a young age and introduced me to Jesus. She was the one who raised me during the early years after my parents divorced. She was the one who prayed for me as I grew up, going between parents and providing a port in the storm when things got too tense with my parents. Had it not been for my godly grandmother, I shudder to think how my life would have turned out. Even though as an adult, I have often failed, her example to me has been my beacon and I thank God for her. To me, she was the epitome of Jesus in the earth. She truly expressed his love for me through her life.
Holly Ruddy
Huber Heights, OH

Always faithful
Faithful that is how I can describe my mother — the kind of faithfulness that Paul talks about when referring to Timothy's grandmother Lois. It just so happens that Lois is my mother's name too.

My mother was the oldest of five. Her parents were divorced, and her mother drank heavily. At around the age of twelve, she made a decision for Christ. Her spiritual foundation as a child was very weak. She grew into young adulthood never forgetting the experience she had as a youth.

When I was about seven, my Mom made a life-changing decision. She realized that it was she, through Jesus Christ, who would have to take a stand for her family. She decided to move to Arizona where she had no family. She wanted to raise me in a Christian environment. We began attending church and she began praying. I remember her praying for my spouse (I was still a child) and my children, praying that generational curses of divorce and addiction would be broken.

She prayed and prayed and trusted God. When my marriage ended, she prayed. She held on to the promise that God had given her. As a matter of fact, she never even took down my wedding pictures, even when I said I was marrying someone else. When I was experimenting with drugs and alcohol, she prayed.

I know that her prayers that saved my life. Most of all, it is the foundation that she painstakingly laid. Even though I went through some hard times, I had a foundation. I realized when I was involved in drugs and the party scene that some people didn't have a foundation. Until that time I had never realized some people didn't know that there was a God who is loving, merciful, and full of grace.

When I was at my lowest point I knew that if I called on Jesus, he would hear me. And my mother continued to pray. She prayed for my husband and my children. She was faithful. After three years, my family was restored and my husband and I have been happily reunited for two years. We are serving God and training our children in the way they should go, so that when they are old they will not depart from it. When I go back to our home town, I always realize how different my life would have been had my mother not taken a stand. Thank you, Mom, for being faithful.
DaShonda Wallach
Carrollton, TX

A Rock Through it All
When I was 6 months old, we had a car accident. To make a long story short, I wasn't supposed to live. When I did, my Mother was told that I would be a living vegetable. Thank God that didn't happen, and it was God who intervened.

God also gave me a fantastic mother. There is no way I could write about everything my mother has done for me. She was only 23 when all this happened to me, but she was a rock through it all. I couldn't hold my head up, but my mother was always there to help me. When I started school, I couldn't talk very well. The children would make fun of me, but my mother would tell me that I was as good as anybody. She helped me through all the years of teasing from the other chidden.

My mother is one reason that I persisted on all those years. My mother is a godly mother. She has prayed for me every day since I was born. I can't begin to tell you how much she means to me. God gave her to me. He knew she was exactly the mother that I needed.

I wasn't always nice to my mother. I would sometimes take my frustrations out on her, but she just kept on loving me. She would discipline me. She wouldn't let me get by with anything. I thought she was being mean to me, but she wasn't.

There is no telling how I would have tuned out if it wasn't for my Godly Mother. She is very special to me, and I love her dearly. Now that I'm a mother myself, I realize how much she truly loves me. I want to say that I love her, too. Thank you, God, for my mother.

I have written a poem about both my parents, Dad as well as Mom. They've both been a major influence on my life.

A Child's Call
I thank you for my parents, Lord,
Who taught me as a child
Of the little baby Jesus,
So wonderful, meek and mild.

They taught me that you loved me
So much you sent him here
To die for all the wrong we'd done
So you could hold us near.

They taught me the importance
Of church and Sunday School,
They even made me go sometimes
When it just wasn't "cool."

They set a good example
Which I follow to this day
To bring my children up in You
So they won't go astray.

Where would I be now, Oh Lord,
And what would I have done
If you hadn't placed me in their care
So I could pass it on!

I thank you, Heavenly Father,
For my Christian family
Who introduced me to You
And brought me up to see …

That a life on earth without you
is no kind of life at all
And that life in you is so complete …
If we only answer your call.

Sharla Stephens
Jefferson, TX

In Love with Jesus
Both my mother and grandmother were in love with Jesus. They showed it in their everyday lives. Seeing this 'love in action' made Jesus real to me and created the salt and light to see him and his love for me.

I can remember both of them in very practical ways demonstrating his reality in their lives. They both sacrificed time to share him with those the Lord put in their path. I still remember to this day my Mom sharing her testimony with others. She did it sweetly and sincerely.

My dear grandmother always had time for her grandchildren. When she was 65 years old, she took an 8-year-old grandson to finish rearing. She was still working, but she took him in and sacrificed time and effort for this child.

I can remember how she created occasions and events, and made them memorable by going the extra mile to make it special. Every Saturday night, which I would go and spend with Grandma, she would review and put the finishing touches on her Sunday School lesson. I particularly remember one about following the leading of Jesus. As she wrote out the lesson, she drew little brown footprints on the page. We laughed when I asked her why she was using peanuts to illustrate her lesson. But she made it clear that Jesus was to lead and we were to lean on, and trust in, him.

Because of the influence and godly lives of my mother and grandmother, I saw the reality and practicality of a risen and living Lord. When I was 11 years old, I gave my heart to this wonderful Savior, who so lovingly lead me to himself through their lives. How I thank my Lord for them! Both of them are in glory now, forever with the Lord Jesus whom they loved and so faithfully served.
Karon Damewood
Beltsville, MD

A Spiritual Gardener
My country farm grandmother taught me the traditional work ethic of 'early to bed, early to rise' that has molded my success in juggling career, family, and friends. She also taught me how to make old-fashioned chicken and dumplings! Her vegetable garden was a produce market, and her flowers were the stuff that magazine photos are made of — right down to the little rose moss along the path leading to the farmhouse.

She made biscuits in the kitchen at 5:00 a.m. every day while singing hymns. She had a ceramic dish that always had a dollar's worth of quarters in it for each grandchild who came to visit. We sat on the front porch swing and ate watermelon fresh from the field. The ladies would come over to make a quilt from a frame hung right in the middle of the living room! Best of all, I remember the reverence in her voice as the pastor asked Granny Hunt if she would pray on Sunday mornings. I only hope I can measure up in my grandmothering.
Debbie Carroccio
Woodbury, Minnesota

Unconditional Love
This poem was written because of a beautiful lady that gave unconditional love to her children and grandchildren, a legacy of her faith that was passed from her mother. I had the honor and privilege to have the wisdom, knowledge and the love for God passed down from these two women. God blessed me with the love of a great-grandmother as well as a grandmother to shape my life. They truly were the lighthouses God sent me to ensure that I would one day grow to love him as much as they did, and to share with the grandchildren that will one day grace my own life. There lights continue to guide and show me the unconditional love that flows from God through them.

That Old Lighthouse
As I view the subsistence of my life, a melody appears,
to the reflections of a child and the sounds of time,
building to a place, I've become.
A face with tiny wrinkles, the hair a tint of gray.
Her eyes hold a gleam, to help a dreamer on their way.
My Grand Old Lighthouse to this day.
A hand firm but filled with love
a child could understand.
A gentleness of spirit to urge you into another day,
my first glimpse of Jesus,
in my Grand Old Lighthouse to this day.
The pains of a child become so real as
I look back through those eyes to see
how she wished to make all the hurt stop.
The point reached between Grandmother and child,
the place where each knows to look
at the peak of dawn and the destination She would choose
for each of her bundles of delight.
She still stands tall through years of strife,
to make me realize
Grandmother
you're that Grand Old Lighthouse in my life.

Donna Robbins
Niagara Falls, NY

A Nurturer and Friend
My mother has truly been the most important person in my life. She not only provides for me with a wonderful house, clothes on my body, and food fit for a king, but she also nurtures me. She has taught me love, strength, and courage. She encourages the many activities that I participate in, and when I didn't have a driver's license, she was always there. From pre-school band practice, to after-school track, to evening orchestra, choir, church, work, and just out with my friends — she put many miles on that van.

She held me and taught me to stand tall, even when I was scared or hurt. And watching my mother hold her head high, even as she battles psoriatic arthritis, is a lesson to me everyday. There are days when she can hardly get out of bed, and barely make it to the kitchen, but she overcomes in order to get me and my family up and running. She is always there for support and love.

When conflicts arise and I need her help, she sits me down and advises me. And even when I am too stubborn, or do not heed her advice, it always comes back to where I know that I should have listened to her. When I'm ready, she just pulls aside the covers in her bed for me, and we lay side by side, just watching TV, talking, and enjoying each other. Without my mother, I would not be the person I am today — or the woman that I will become. Thanks, Mom.
Lauren, 16
Carmel, IN

A Lighthouse of Love
I have two sisters, and before we even knew what church was all about, we were there. My Mom and Dad were leaders of the youth as we got older, and our door was always open. If one of the kids just needed to talk, at 3:00 in the morning, Mom would get up and make coffee — and breakfast, just in case someone looked like they may be hungry. I cannot count the number of times that my sisters and I squeezed together in one bed so that others could have a place to sleep.

At different times, we had a Christian Japanese exchange student, two lady missionaries, four kids from Florida on a mission trip, a quartet from Cumberland College, and numerous other house guests that stayed at our house. Because of the open door that my mother kept, we learned the meaning of sharing, loving and accepting others, and how to cook large quantities of food!

Now that we are all adults with our own families, this loving quality of our mother has been ingrained in us. The Lord has placed within us the same willingness to keep that open door policy. The blessings that we have received through this gift, passed on by Mom, have been immeasurable. Since my father passed away, she is now living alone. I pray that God will continue to bless her life with his gift so that she will never be lonely.
Stephanie Mattox

A Praying Grandmother
I became a Christian in my twenties. I had been exposed to religion, but never started a relationship with Jesus until I was 25.

One holiday, all of us gals were sitting around visiting, and I made the comment that somebody had to have been praying for me all of my life because God had protected me in so many ways and had brought me to himself. There were no evangelists out there, but there were definitely angels. My grandma raised her hand, smiled and said, "I've been praying for you."

Thank God for praying Grandmas and for praying moms. I am now a praying mom, and I have seen God answer my prayers for my children on a regular basis.

Praise the Lord.
Valerie Armstrong
Norton, Kansas

A Miracle Mother
My mother has her problems. She was paralyzed in a car accident long before I was born. The doctors told her she'd never be able to have kids, so when she got pregnant with me, I was an unexpected miracle. Even more unexpected were my two younger brothers. She considers us her gifts from God, and she's dedicated her life to raising us in a good Christian home. I believe it's because of her that all three of us are saved today.

My mother is awesome! She's been there for me for as long as I can remember. My parents got divorced when I was two, and since then she's been mom and dad to my brothers and me. She got remarried when I was nine, but remains the one constant in my life. No matter who comes or goes, no matter what I do, I know she'll always be here and she'll always love me.

When I need someone to talk to she's the first one I turn to. When I need advice or a shoulder to cry on, it's always hers. My mom tells me I make her proud and that she couldn't have asked for a better daughter, but honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better mother.

She's one of those moms who loses her temper, and when I was growing up, she yelled a lot. Well, she's told me for years that she's prayed for God to help her control it, but it just doesn't happen. Nevertheless, she always apologizes when she feels she was in the wrong in our disagreements. In all my years dealing with parents, I've found she is one in a million! I know no other parent who admits to their child when they are wrong and asked for their forgiveness.

Mom had surgery on her spinal cord late last year. Her biggest fear in coming out of it was that she wouldn't be able to walk again — not because she was scared for herself, but because she didn't want to be a burden on the family. She'd rather die than put us through that. My response to her was that I would rather have her here with my mentally and for emotional and spiritual support, rather than not at all.

I remember crying myself to sleep worrying about her and if she'd make a full recovery and wanting so badly for her to hang on until her first grandchild was born. She was destroyed at the thought of not being able to hold her granddaughter and be there for me. She knew I would need her more then than ever. God blessed our family, and now she's fully recovered and walks around like no one of us thought possible!
Julie Dunlap
Alvin, Texas

Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc. For reprint information call 630-260-6200.