Hello and good evening Mom! I’m really sorry that I didn’t get this post written and uploaded to you earlier, but I let myself get caught up dealing with the kids and church and everything else today. Also, not to make even more excuses, but I really wanted to do something special for you, so I decided to wait until I had a few minutes to make this Mother’s Day a memorable one (after we put the kids to bed). I’ve spent the last couple of days trying to come up with something that I could do for you, and I even went to the extreme, at one point on Friday morning of looking up some plane tickets online to see if there was any way that I could possibly surprise you with a “surprise visit”. However, I quickly realized that I had waited entirely too late for that to happen (both because of the cost and the availability of tickets). I simply had to find another unique way in which I could surprise you, but naturally nothing was coming to mind. At some point during our church service this morning it finally hit me! I knew that there were a lot of different things that I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it “personal”, but that’s when it hit me…Make a video! So without further ado, I present to you, my wonderful Mother, my best description of why I am so thankful that you are my Mom and why I love you from the bottom of my heart!

Please watch the following video and accept it as my humble presentation of my love and respect to a woman that is worthy of more love, honor, and respect than I could ever show her through a few mere words.

“The Video”

The Handwritten Version of My ‘Mother’s Day Letter’

In order to better explain who my Mom really is and what she means to me, I’ve broken down my letter of thanks and gratitude into two main sections:

• Thanks for Being You
• Thanks for Your Godliness

Thanks for Being You

Mom, as far back as I can remember, you have always been a loving, caring person, especially when it came to raising and caring for your children. You were always one that would go the extra mile for her children, no matter what that meant. I say these words, not lightly or as “filler”, just to fill up a spot on this video or words on the page below this video, but out of being purely honest about who you are! Most of today’s women actually have no idea what it means to be a mother to their children the way you were to us. Most mothers simply aren’t able to love their children the way you loved us because they aren’t able (or willing) to sacrifice themselves for their children the way you did for us. See, you were a different kind of mom. You gave up everything for us! You gave up your nursing career, you gave up your own goals, and you even gave up your own life for us. You gave up everything…your personal time, even your own body (by having so many kids), and the list goes on and on! Thing of it is, I know you did it because you loved us and one of the things that makes you so awesome is knowing that you would do it the same way all over again if you were given the chance. I could say “thank you” for so many different things that I could probably ramble on for more than 10K words and that still might not cover it all, but in light of keeping this letter short and to the point as possible, I’ve included a list of the things that meant the most to me: Thank You For:

1. For… Your kind and tenderheartedness.
2. For… Spending absolutely countless hours in your laundry room hand-making all of our clothes.
3. For… Making all of our meals completely home-cooked and full of love.
4. For… Raising us with love day-in-and-out, and always putting up with our attitudes and mis-behavior.
5. For… Spending yet even more of your time and hard work to home-school us.
6. For… Loving us so much that even when we were disrespectful, you still continued loving us!
7. For… Never complaining about how much we stressed you out, and never telling us you wish you had of lived more or done more for yourself instead of having us (Even though I know you felt that way at times!).

Your love for us has always been so abundant and never failing… I really can’t even begin to describe to you how much you’ve meant to me over the years and how much you’ve meant to all of us. You are absolutely wonderful! You are indeed the true embodiment of what it means to be “A loving mother”! Your kindness and heartfelt love is a true testament to who you really are as a person, and I believe it’s one of the things makes you the most wonderful mother a son could ever hope for!

Thanks for Your Godliness

However, as is true with all great women, you have many sides or parts of you that make you an awesome mother to this grateful son. Another one of those things that makes me especially grateful to you is your Godliness, and your willingness / desire to be a Godly example to me as I was growing up. Even though I’ve chosen to make this the second part of my letter or presentation to you, indeed it should have been the first! I never realized it when I was younger, but the Godly example you left for us was completely priceless! I don’t even know if you realized it when you were doing it, but each and every day that I can remember you always exemplified God in your daily walk. I know in my heart that was the main reason you were able to handle that happened in your life like you did, and I just want you to know how much of blessing that has been for me as I’ve started to get older. Thank you for always trusting in the Lord, even when it didn’t seem like it was the logical thing to do. Thank you for having faith in the Lord and trusting the Lord to heal you from your sickness and trusting Him to deliver you from the many trials and tribulations that you faced when I was a kid. You just have no idea what your faith, from way back then, has done for me ‘now’! I remember so many times when your faith was definitely strong enough to move a mountain! I remember seeing you calling on the Lord with your whole heart and I remember watching the Lord move in mighty ways for you! That’s what I mean when I say that your faith from back then is still strengthening me even now. Additionally, your faith and non-stop prayers have definitely assisted in pulling me back from the brinks of hell more than once in my life. Your faith in God has shaped me into the God fearing person that I am today, and I am forever grateful to you for raising me to trust and believe in the Lord our God! That is the one thing that really make you the most awesome Mom in the world! No one can ever take that away from you. You raised me in the ways of the Lord, and when I was old I did not depart from it, but rather “I ran to it!” Amen! and Amen! One other last thing that I wanted to touch on briefly is this. Mom, please don’t ever feel sad or sorry for any of the recent events that have occurred in our family over the course of the last few years. Now, before you go shaking your head and saying “whatever” inside your heart, please let me explain. Just know and remember that there is no way possible that we would’ve ever had the chance to grow in the Lord the way we have recently, nor would I ever have been the child-of-God that I am today had we not gone through all those terrible times. All I’m saying is this: Don’t be sad or sorrowful that things happened, be thankful God has blessed us through our trials and tribulations the way he has, and just remember that it is largely due to the fact that you have always live a Godly life and been that Godly example for us to follow!

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1 KJV)

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love god, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.(Romans 8:28 KJV)

That is definitely what you’ve done for us and I hope that on this Mother’s Day you can be very proud of who you are and how you’ve always followed the Lord. You are an awesome Mother!

Conclusion

Ok, like I mentioned earlier, I could literally ramble on forever and ever, because that’s just how much you mean to me, Mom, but I’ll try to go ahead and wrap this up really quick so you can get on about your business. MOM, I LOVE YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, and I am forever grateful to you for being my mom! Thank you for being a Godly mother, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for always giving up everything you ever wanted and/or desired just so I could have the best life possible. Thank you for your faith in our Lord, and thank you for always exemplifying Jesus Christ in your everyday life. Your son, Matt, loves you from the bottom of his heart! I hope that this letter from my heart has blessed you and in some small way show you how special you are to me. May God bless you all the days of your life and I hope that this Mother’s Day has been a truly special day for you. I LOVE YOU!

Your Loving Son,
Matt S. Vaden