Mamapalooza

Today’s post is dedicated to my mom. Mother of seven, grandmother of 18, great-grandmother to one, and many, many more loved ones by marriage and choice.

This past summer I put a video together for mom’s birthday. It was so much fun to go to her house and one-by-one sneak box after box of photos out. When I got them to my house it was like an archeological dig. I anxiously removed the lid of the box and carefully peered inside. As I leaned into the interior of the box I got a faint whiff of something. It smelled old, like faded memories in the small crevasses of my brain. I methodically pulled out photos by the handful. Some pictures I had never seen, making it seem like I was unearthing rare artifacts. Some were old favorites that I have grown up with. The rest had been forgotten but once seen, immediately brought back flashes of remembrance.

Below is my very humble video. There are a several things I would like to point out.

A couple spots in the video I consider “God moments.“ I am not very familiar with movie-maker so it was basically a learn-as-I-go project. There are a couple moments when the music and the images aligned perfectly and there is no possible way I could have planned it.

When I played the video back for the first time with the music on it I noticed that during the song “As For Me and My House” the clip of my parent initials, a heart and date came up right when the words were “as for me and my house, we will praise the Lord.”

Toward the end of the video this quote is used, “My mom is a neverending song in my heart of comfort happiness and being. I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune.” I have not heard this quote before, but I came across it and really liked it, so I added it to the video. When this clip of the quote is shown, we are singing “with our neverending praise.”

The pictures of the scriptures are actual photos from one of my mom’s Bible.

And, last, but certainly not least; I chose the Ricky Skaggs song “Somebody’s Praying” especially for this project. Eleven or twelve years ago I was estranged from my family and from God. I felt so alone and I couldn’t pray for myself because I felt abandoned by God. Then I heard this song.

Somebody's prayin, I can feel it
Somebody's prayin' for me
Mighty hands are guiding me
To protect what I can't see
Lord I believe, Lord I believe
That somebody's prayin', for me.

Angels are watchin', I can feel it
Angels are watchin' over me
There's many miles ahead 'til I get home
Still I'm safely kept before your thrown
'Cause Lord I believe, Lord I believe
Your angels are watchin' over me.

I felt like this song was sent to me, and I knew that even though I couldn’t pray for myself, and I was so isolated, that my mom was praying for me still.

My mom, like moms everywhere, does not expect thanks and accolades for being a great mom. But it is my great pleasure to share a little of her life on my post and to publicly convey my gratitude for her life as an example of godly wife and mother.

Please allow ample time for the video to load.