Let me tell you about my mom, starting over the last 10 years or so and working my way backwards.

My mom is 95, born in 1915. She lives with my sister, Nancy, in Chicago...don't remember how long, but a pretty long time. She has cats and loves them very much. She has no gray hair. Her hair is still dark brown. She tries to stay savvy on the technical issues...masters new tvs, dvd players, tape players, and the remotes that go with them. When she was 90, she bought a laptop so she could keep in touch with us by email! I have kept every one of her messages because she always encourages me to keep trusting the Lord.

My mom became a widow at age 46. My dad died...went to be with Jesus...at age 54. I'll tell you more about that later. So, after she became a widow, down the road a bit, she started working. She worked for Lydia Children's Home for a long time and for Compassion. She lived in Chicago on Grace Street until Denny and Kath, Ken and I, and our families moved to Florida. She followed. When Ken and I came back, she stayed as did the Brocks. While there, she became the pianist for Landmark Baptist Church and was a blessing in special ways to the pastor and his wife and others in the church. Then, she decided to come back north, sold her trailer in a very nice trailer park, and came to live with Nancy.

Now, I'll go back to her life from about age 18 to 46. My mom and dad were married on June 11, 1933. My mom was a Christian but my dad was not. During the next ten years or so, Nancy was born, followed four years later by Denny, and four years later by me. During that time, the Lord was working to bring my mom back into fellowship with Him. An important thing took place when she came back to the Lord. My mom made a decision to change churches. We had been going to one that actually said that the Bible stories were myths. When my mom heard that, she pulled us out. She prayed specifically for a great church where her kids could grow in the Lord. She actually laid her hand on the outside brick wall of Midwest Bible Church one day as she was passing by and told the Lord that this was the church she wanted for our family. This church made the difference for the Brock family.

My mom was very concerned about her husband, my dad. He did not know the Lord and he was tough, although he was one of the best people ever. Recently, my mom told me that every day after sending us kids off to school, she would pray on her knees for my dad for 2 or 3 hours. So, she was a praying wife. I must also make it very clear, though, that my mom took God's exhortations regarding wives being in subjection to their husbands very seriously. She was not a wimp, but she tried to listen to him. She hung on to the passages that say that a husband...unsaved or backslidden...can be won by the actions and spirit of a meek and quiet wife. When I was 15, my dad was saved. I will never forget the day when, after years of either my mom or one of thanking God for the food, my dad stopped the normal routine and said, "No, today I will pray." We all cried. I have memories of my dad singing, "Until Then," and another song with the first line that says, "Oh, hallelujah, yes 'tis heaven, 'tis heaven to know my sin's forgiven."

Mom has been an example of a Christian woman whose heart was dedicated to growing in the Lord. She was never a big shot at church, but did teach a Sunday School class and was active in the Women's Missionary Society at church. However, she was a homemaker. She kept house. She was a simple but great cook...mmmm...her spaghetti, pot roast, turkey stuffing, etc. She sewed like crazy. One Christmas she made beautiful button down shirts for the men in the family, and a couple of dresses for the women. She taught me to sew so that I could make all my clothes in high school and the first few years of marriage. She crocheted so many afghans and she and my aunt sewed many things by hand. She plays the piano, simply and beautifully. She sings. I love her voice. Simple, but lovely.

So during that period of her life, she and my dad raised us three kids and I am very humbled by the fact that somehow she brought us, all three of us, to love God with our whole heart. I am in awe of her for that. I admire her for that. I know she prayed a lot.

Mom was a Scripture memorizer. So many verses and long passages were committed to memory during those years; but the one that amazes me is that she memorized the whole book of Hebrews! She says she kind of got a kick out of the words of the writer of Hebrews when at the end of the book, he mentions that he used few words!

Well, from birth to age 18, I guess life was not all that great for her. Her dad died when she was five...but he had become a Christian a short while before due to her mother's witness. Her mother died when she was 15. Then, Mom was raised by two spinster aunts who lived down the street. Mom tells me that she was very poor and that this affected her personality. I saw the house they lived in. Most garages are bigger than her house was. I'm serious. Her mom had heart trouble and a lot of pain, and my mom lived in fear of something happening to her. But, my grandma was another one of those people with a hot relationship with God and she passed that on to my mom, not only leading her to know Jesus, but especially how to love Him and His Word well.

So, back to today, I want to honor my mom on her 95th birthday, as the Bible says, by "rising up and calling her blessed." I am among the most fortunate and blessed daughters in history!