This Is How I Want To Remember My Mom

This Is How I Want To Remember My Mom 

By Lois Jones, The Minister's Wife

(presented at the memorial service for Patricia Wing, 10/28/15)

I'd like to tell you something about my Mom. The Lord brought it to my mind when my brother, Mark, called me to tell me she had passed away. It's was something the Lord wanted me to realize about my Mom. It's something a lot of people didn't really know about her or maybe how much she did this.

I could tell you all about the things she taught me, how to cook well, how to clean, how to organize, how to sew, how to raise my kids. I could tell you about the fun trips we took together, how much she loved having people around, how she loved to come visit us in Indiana. I could even tell you some very, very funny stories about her and crazy things she did. I could share with you how she had a servant's heart and loved to help and encourage people.

But that's not how I really want to remember my Mom. Oh, I'll remember those things and think of her as I use a recipe she taught me, or hang up a Christmas decoration she made. But those things are temporal, and can easily fade into memory and become dim. I want to tell you about what I really want to remember about my Mom.

My Mom was a prayer warrior. Not just your average prayer warrior, she was fervent and determined. She would pray before eating her breakfast every morning and then again at night before she went to bed without fail and no matter where she was. If you asked her to pray about something, she did, and she did so with enthusiasm. She took it to heart and considered it an honor to pray for people. She took it very seriously because she had seen over her many years how God moved in the lives of people through prayer.

But there was one thing she prayed about more than anything else, her family. That was the most precious thing she had and she was determined to make sure God moved in our lives, and He did. It made a big impression on our boys. They would come down for breakfast when she was visiting us and see Grandma sitting at the table, her food in front of her, and she wasn't touching it. She was praying and they knew that they were to be quiet and wait till she was done. They would ask her what she prayed for and she always said she prayed for them.

I was someone she prayed for as well. As a teen I was the child she worried about the most, the one she never thought would straighten out. I was the rebel, the one determined to make my own path in life no matter who I hurt. Her deepest desire for me was to come to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Without fail, she prayed for me like she did others every day, and I am fairly sure it wasn't only at breakfast and before bed. I'm sure she did whenever she thought of me.

Her prayers were answered and just before I turned 19 I did accept Jesus as my Savior, and it changed my life forever. Because of my accepting Christ, I went to a Christian university. Because I went to that Christian university, I met the man I was going to marry. Because I married Rick, we decided we wanted to serve God together in ministry, so we became missionaries with Child Evangelism Fellowship.

Because we joined with CEF we were able to give the gospel out to thousands of children across northern Indiana and parts of Missouri. Because we joined with CEF we were able to train hundreds of adults and teens in how they could teach the gospel to children and how to lead them to Christ. Two of those teens we trained were our own boys. And because we gave the gospel out to so many children, the four of us were able to lead hundreds of boys and girls and a few adults to make a decision to accept Christ as their Savior. Because we trained all those people on how to lead boys and girls to Christ, they were able to do the same thing, lead hundreds of children to accept Christ as their Savior.

Some of those kids are grown up now and have children of their own and are raising their kids in godly homes. They are teachers, deacons, and secretaries, in their local churches, telling people about Christ. A few of those boys grew up and became pastors and are leading their churches and reaching their communities with the gospel of Jesus Christ. About 10 of those kids have gone on to become missionaries and are reaching the lost in their countries of service with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Lives are being changed around the world. Literally thousands and thousands of people around the world are hearing about the love of God and His desire for them to be saved, and thousands have come to accept Jesus as their Savior and will get to spend eternity in Heaven.

All of this was made possible because of one thing, one lady who was faithful in prayer. One lady who never gave up. One lady who knew how significant prayer was and how much it could change lives.

That one lady was my Mom. I don't think she ever really thought about the impact she had on the Kingdom of God and the lives that have been changed and will continue to be changed because of her faithful prayers. She just wanted her daughter to get saved.

I'm fairly certain that Jesus looked at her when she reached heaven and said, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

This is how I want to remember my Mom!

(Contents are those of the author and are not to be reproduced in any for without the permission of the author.)