With Breanna finishing up her second year of college at TCC and making plans to actually go off to college in Ada in the Fall and with Katlyn graduating from high school there has been a lot of reflection taking place in my life. It seems like just yesterday that they were born and adding so much joy to our lives. It seems like just the other day Vickie and I started dating. Anyway you get the picture...time passes quickly.

            Do you have a good memory? It seems for me that parts of my past are crystal clear and other parts are not so much so. With all sorts of memories flooding my mind these days and to keep from getting too emotional while writing this article I am going to jump back in my past to when Vickie and I were dating. She and I dated for just over 5 years before we were married and during that time (and since) we have shared a whole bunch of notes. One of the things that sticks out in my mind is how she signed her letters. She would always write, "Rember, I love you!" Now, You may think that I misspelled ‘remember,’ well I did, but I did it on purpose because that is the way she wrote it. And the funny thing is, I still remember it after 23 + years of marriage. I know to this day that she loves me, I still ‘rember.’

            Do you remember that this weekend is Memorial Day Weekend. The last Monday of May has been set aside as a day for us to remember those who have given their life in service to our country. For most, that means a day off of work and a long weekend. It seems today, many forget why they have the long weekend. Oh, I think they know it is because of Memorial Day, but they don’t even pause or slow down to remember the real reason behind the day off. As this Monday rolls around, let’s make sure we pause and thank God for the men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice, their life, so we can enjoy the freedoms we have. It is also a good time to remember those men and women who are putting their life on the line for us today in an effort to keep those freedoms.

            Just like I will always 'rember' that Vickie loves me let’s all make sure we ‘rember’ the reason for Memorial Day this year! 

                I think we would all agree, Mothers are special. Many have said that a mother's love is probably the closest example we have to God's love. Sacrifice is one of the characteristics of His love that we often see in that of a mom. Sacrificing her time and energy. Maybe even sacrifice to the point of daring to lay down her life for her children. To illustrate let me share with you a story about Solomon Rosenburg and his family that was recorded from accounts of WW 2 and the holocaust that took the lives of millions of people.
                Solomon Rosenberg, his wife, their 2 sons, his mother and his father were arrested and placed in a Nazi concentration camp. It was a labor camp and the rules were simple. "As long as you can do your work, you are permitted to live. When you become too weak to do your work, then you are exterminated."
                Rosenberg watched his mother and father marched off to their deaths and he just knew his youngest son, David, would be next because he had always been a frail child. Every evening Rosenberg came back into the barracks after his hours of labor & searched for the faces of his family. When he found them they would huddle together, embrace one another and thank God for another day of life.
                One day Rosenberg came back and didn’t see those familiar faces. He finally discovered his oldest son, Joshua, in a corner, huddled, weeping and praying. He said, "Josh, tell me it’s not true." Joshua turned and said, "It is true, poppa. Today David was not strong enough to do his work. So they came for him."
                "But where is your mother?" asked Mr. Rosenberg. "Oh poppa," he said, "When they came for David, he was afraid and he cried. Momma said, `There is nothing to be afraid of David,’ and she took his hand and went with him."
                What a picture of motherhood- doing whatever could be done to help, comfort and console her child even if it meant the ultimate sacrifice of her life. Thank you to all the moms who have shown us and/or continue to show us God's love in action! Thank you for walking with us through all of life's events- the good and the difficult! Thank you for being a living expression of God's love for all to see! Happy Mother's Day!