A Mother’s Gift

The other day I was listening to the Mike Gallagher Show and he asked the question, “What is the best memory or most memorable time you had with your mother?” I’ve been thinking about that for a while now, and over the years, there have been many memorable experiences with Mom and I, but I want to share this one.

Long ago, on a quiet snow-filled night in upstate New York, in a small house in the woods, a little boy and his mom sat upon the kitchen floor reading a book. The kitchen was worn and shabby, with chipped orange cabinets, and wooden boards hung on the walls for shelves. The floor was plywood, worn smooth by the feet of those who lived there. The rows of single paned windows that overlooked the frosted back hill and frozen creek were covered in plastic to keep out the drafts. In the corner on a thick piece of slate, was a large white iron wood burning cookstove, which also heated the house. Sprawled on the shaggy red carpet in front of the stove was a black and white beagle/spaniel mix named Benny, soaking in the warmth. Dad was somewhere else in the house, or working down in his shop. The little boy didn’t have any brothers or sisters yet, but one was on the way. So there they were, mother and son, sitting on the floor, a little ways from the stove because it was pretty warm, leaning against those pumpkin cabinets and reading a book. It was a Bible, actually. An illustrated Catholic Bible that the boy’s grandparents had given him. As they looked through the pages of pictures, the boy’s mom read the stories of the Bible with him and he drank it all in, imagining with wonder.

Back in those days, they didn’t have TV in the house, and books were all he would know for many years. Those stories would become so alive to him as he grew. But this time … this time was the first time to really hear them. They read of the story of creation; of Noah, the ark and the great flood; of Moses and the Commandments; of John the Baptizer. They read of Jesus and all his miracles, and how He loved us so much that He died on the cross to pay for all the bad stuff we had ever done or ever would do, and then, how He rose again from the grave and went into heaven! As his mom read those stories, she reached the end of the book, and the boy saw an awful image. There was fire and buildings falling and people in pain. He was startled by the image and asked his mom what was happening. She explained that one day, at the end of all things, the world will come to an end, and a great day of trials and tribulation will come because God is going to make a new earth. Then they turned the page, and to the boy’s five year old eyes, was the most beautiful picture he had ever seen … a golden city with the deepest azure sky, shining and gleaming. “Oh! Mom, where is that!” He exclaimed. She told him of heaven and how that is where Jesus is, and that is where He wants us to be when we die someday. And when God makes the earth new, that amazing city is going to come down to the earth. The boy’s eyes were round with amazement. “Mom, that’s where I want to be. I want to be there with Jesus.”

So that quiet winter night in 1978, in the stillness of the snow and the dark, with the dog quietly snoring by the fire, on that worn old plywood floor, a little 5 year-old boy named Joshua prayed with his Mom, and he asked Jesus to come into his heart.

I’m 37 now, and I’ve never forgotten that night. When I look back on it, I know that Mom gave me the most valuable gift I could have ever been given. She loved me so much that she shared the most important thing she could ever share with me – the free gift of salvation through Jesus. To my mother, I will be eternally grateful. I love you Mom and Happy Mother’s Day.