"Clearly a Classic"

She knew this one was coming! Yesterday was my mother's 60th birthday, and we had the privilege of being home this weekend for her surprise birthday party. While I like to commemorate significant dates in the lives of the people who are important to me, sometimes I feel like I am catering more toward sentimentality than sincerity. What I mean is too often we say our most meaningful things to people when we are supposed to. It is only on birthdays that we tell them how much they mean to us, only on anniversaries when we tell our spouses how much we love them, etc. So I thought I would skip a day to mention how much I love my mother. Today is not her birthday (obviously), but it was her mother's birthday (my grandmother). As a typical American teenager, so much of my life I spent hiding from my parents in public to avoid embarrassment. I was simply too cool for them, or so I thought. I am still in school after all these years, still doing homework, but not everything is the same. Today, I cannot get enough of my mother and father. For so many years I missed the opportunity to express my gratitude for the extraordinary love mom showed me in ordinary ways. I had so many opportunities to rise up and call her "Blessed" but I didn't. And for what purpose? My pride. I have learned many things since then, not the least of which is to glory in my inheritance in Christ, and to esteem the godly upbringing my parents have given me. My most elaborate attempts at articulating the multi-faceted virtues my mother possesses have failed to communicate my indebtedness and unceasing gratitude for what God has provided for me through her. Yet, now that her birthday is over, I can begin to tell her how much she means to me and how much I love her. No, she is not perfect mother, but as I have said before, she has been perfect for me. So I celebrate the 60 years of her life with each day bringing love and joy through sacrifice and tenderness - and hope that in the years, yea days ahead, I shall recount the many blessings I have received from such a blessed woman.