Lately, I have been thinking a lot about my wonderful mom. She went home to be with the Lord 14 years ago. I have so many precious memories of her.
As busy moms, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with life and lose the joy we once had in being a mother.
In honor of my mom, I’m going to share the following thoughts that I wrote after she died. My brother read this at her funeral. These written words sum up the memories of my mom very well!
“When I think back of my mom over the years, the first word that comes to my mind is joy. My mom had the joy of the Lord.
I remember as a young girl, hearing her sing hymns as she washed the dishes, or cleaned the house. She’d sing as she drove the car. Mom would listen to Christian music and sing along as she worked around the house.
I remember a time when she was hurt by a situation at church. She was treated wrong. As we left church that evening, there were tears running down her face. We got into the car and I heard her quoting a Bible verse about the joy of the Lord. While we drove home, she sang.
Later in life, mom developed Alzheimer’s disease. As it progressed she gradually began to lose her ability to communicate verbally. However, we still knew the joy was there.
When we walked into the room to visit her, she would look up and start to giggle. She would be silly and just laugh over nothing. She still had the joy of the Lord despite her failing health.
Right up to almost the end, she would open her eyes and smile at us. We sang hymns to her. Though she was very weak, she would sing a phrase or two with us. She was still finding her strength in the Lord!
From the verse in Nehemiah 8:10 we sing the little song, “He fills my mouth with laughter, ha ha ha ha ha; oh the joy of the Lord is my strength.”
Every time I hear that song, I will think of my mom and remember how she loved to laugh, and how she taught me the importance of finding strength through the joy of the Lord.
It is so easy to let circumstances or fatigue steal our joy as mothers, yet we need to remember that our kids are watching. I don’t know about you, but I really want my kids to remember me as a mom who had the joy of the Lord.
I’m so thankful for a mom who lived that out for me, and showed me that even in hard times you can have the joy of the Lord!
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
Psalm 59:16 But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.
Psalm 5:11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
1 Peter 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
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Hebrews 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 John 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
Isaiah 51:11 Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Nehemiah 8:10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Pin These Bible Verses on Joy For Later! ⇓
