Happy Birthday Ma!

Cue the trumpets!!!  We have reason to celebrate!  Why?  Because it’s Bible Study Mama’s birthday!!!!  Of course, I don’t call her by her full name of Bible Study Mama.  I usually call her “ma” or “Doodle”.  When she’s really into a game on her phone, I’ll call her “Beverly” or “mother.”  That generally does the trick.

No matter what name I use to describe her or get her attention, I’m so thankful that God chose to name me as one of her children.  Being a teen mom is no picnic and being a SUCCESSFUL teen parent requires sacrifice that many people don’t want to give.  My mama made that sacrifice.  Not just during her teens but over the course of my entire lifetime.

I’ve have been so reflective lately and really in awe of how she has navigated the curves of life.  At my age, she had an 18-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son.  I remember me at eighteen and let me tell you…she had the patience of a saint.  I knew everything about life and couldn’t understand how she was so clueless.  She loved me through that stage.

When I was about seven or eight, I went through a lying phase.  I lied about EVERYTHING.  For no particular reason.  We could be standing outside with rain drenching me, and if you asked me if it was raining, I would have told you “no.”  Literally lying for no reason.  She loved me through that stage.

I called her crying during my freshman year of college, because I had broken up with my boyfriend (nicknamed “Weapon Formed” by Bible Study Brother…LOL).  I was devastated.  Life was over as I knew it.  She drove to Conway to rub my back and just love on me.  She loved me through that stage.

I got sick when I was living in Houston.  While I was in the emergency room, a friend of the family walked in.  I thought to myself “what a coincidence…how strange.”  It wasn’t a coincidence.  She wasn’t there, and she didn’t want me to be alone.  So, she found someone to step in until she could fly down the highway to get to me.  (She has a lead foot on a regular sunny day.  Imagine the weight of that foot when her child is in crisis.  Yikes!)  She loved me through that stage.

My mama has loved me through every stage of my life, and I’m grateful.  I know it hasn’t been easy.  I don’t thank her enough for her sacrifice.  This is a public letter of appreciation.  God could have formed any manner of mama for me.  He was purposeful and deliberate in providing me with a mother that exceeds my wildest expectation.  If you’re mad that I took today to shout out my mama, I don’t care.  I want her to get her flowers while she’s still alive.  Happy Birthday Ma!  #wepreach