Fearless

I am writing this on the 4 year anniversary of my mother’s death. It seems like it hasn’t been that long. I miss my mother every day but I don’t miss her in the state she was in the in last few years of her life. As I have posted before, she was not the mother I knew for 50-something years.

On Mother’s Day this year at church the pastor did something a little different. He had a panel of 6 women who discussed being a mother and being a daughter. A question asked of them was “What legacy did your mother leave you?” A lot of them answered prayer, their love of the Lord, service, etc. I started thinking about the legacy my mother left me and I believe it was to be fearless. That’s also what I miss most about her. She worried just like we all do but she didn’t let her worries stop her from what she wanted to do.

I can’t even tell you how many different countries my mother traveled to. If she couldn’t find someone to travel with her she just signed up for a tour and went alone. Some of her trips included Africa (twice), Jordan, Israel, Australia, Greece, England (several times), Scotland, Ireland, Italy and France (several times), Egypt, and others that I can’t remember. I am thankful that she passed her love of adventure on to my brother and I. She took me on some great trips and I’ve been on several since she passed. I think that any time any of our family embarks on a trip we think of her and how pleased she would be that we are exploring the world.

It wasn’t just her travel that taught us that though. Once I was old enough to tie my ropes on by myself my dad quit going to jr. rodeos. That didn’t stop my mom and I though. I remember 1 particular rodeo when I was in the 12 and under. We went to Van Horn and the pickup we had wasn’t air conditioned so we left home at about 4 in the morning so we could drive while it was cool and then left Van Horn to head home a couple of nights later at about midnight. Knowing my dad, I’m pretty sure our tires were bald and our lights may or may not have worked but on we went.

I don’t remember this but my brother and my aunt have told this story to me. My dad and my brother had gone off to a jr. rodeo somewhere and my mom and I were at home. The sheep shearers showed up unexpectedly. She sent me to stay with my aunt and she single-handedly gathered all of the sheep and got them penned for the shearers. The story is that she only missed 1 ewe out of a couple of hundred. If something needed to be done she just did it.

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I like to feel that she left that same spirit with me. She must have or I don’t think I could have done what I did with the boys all of the years Jacky was working on location in the oil field. As most things in life are, I never appreciated her fearlessness and the attitude that she instilled in me. If something needs to be done, just do it. If you want to do something, just do it. I think if she were here she would say, “Don’t sit around waiting on other people, just do what you want to do or what needs to be done. You can do it.” After she passed 1 of the most comforting things anyone said to me was from a friend whom my mother encouraged. She told my mother that she didn’t think she would be able to haul her son to rodeos by herself and my mother told her that of course she could. She could do whatever she wanted to do.

Thanks Mom. You left a great legacy for us all.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9