My Mother's Legacy of Service

Over the years I spent with my mother, I never knew a time when she was not volunteering at something. Her health made it a struggle, but she always found a way to serve. Often, my sister and I had the privilege of helping.

Before I was 10 years old, I knew how to find a store manager and request permission to post a sign for important events such as the Red Cross Blood Drive or our church's Shut-In Mass. I had stuffed envelopes and waved at passers-by dressed as a clock for a political campaign. And, the list goes on.

Even when we were not able to participate, we understood that serving should be constant. We learned this as she shared her experiences with us.

I recall her return home one Sunday afternoon, after she had been volunteering as a chaplain at the local hospital. She seemed lost in thought, but proceeded to explain. She recounted a series of events which she attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit to put her exactly where she needed to be, when she needed to be there. She was on the elevator, where she met a man with a boy and a girl around 8 and 10 years old, both of whom were sobbing. The man explained to mom that they were on their way to say goodbye to their mother. She accompanied them and stayed with them until they were ready to leave.

I cried as I listened and then asked her, "How did you do it?!" She said simply, "Just hold their hand and let the Lord lead."

During another season, she was a teacher of English as a foreign language at our town's library. She didn't just teach English, however, she got involved in their lives and taught them our culture.

Three of her students were a man and his two sisters from Czechoslovakia. He spoke some English, but the women did not. Shortly after mom began working with them, the man died unexpectedly, leaving his sisters behind alone in a foreign country whose language they didn't speak. My mother stepped up. Imagine trying to translate to and for people you couldn't understand yourself. But, she did it - with God's help, she insisted. They became life-long friends.

There are many more examples, not only of things she did, but lives she changed.

In her later years, she read books to a blind man until she could no longer speak. Before she reached that point however, she read the entire Bible onto tape for him. At that time there was no such thing as audio books. When she could not read anymore, she took up her knitting needles.

She spent hour after hour knitting bandages for a leper colony in the Philippines. They were needed because they were lint-free and reusable. She suffered from Carpel Tunnel and would knit until her arms cramped. She'd stop only long enough to rub the circulation back into them and then continue with her labor of love. In all, she knitted hundreds of yards of the bandages before passing away at only 62 years old.

I learned a lesson from my mother which has become a passion and a way of life. She taught me that if you can breathe, you can find something to do for someone. She may have been weak in body, but the Lord made her strong in spirit to do every work He set before her.

I still treasure her knitting needles. In death, she left them behind, along with her legacy of service. She and they will never be forgotten. I love you, Mom.

Praise you, Lord, for a godly example of living to serve. May I remain eager to serve You. Show me the way, Lord. What work do you have for me? Help me to remain faithful and to train up these children You have entrusted to me as servants for Your Kingdom, and may we together continue her beautiful legacy for future generations. AMEN.