ELDER: A mom’s example: Be fresh and fruitful

Recently I took my 87-year-old mom grocery shopping. With her back problems and other physical limitations, she made her way slowly through the aisles of the store, sometimes pausing for a moment in order to rest. Even though I tried to do all the reaching for items on shelves and any heavy lifting, by the time we were finished I knew she was in pain and worn out. However, as we approached the check-out line, she took the opportunity to pull out a couple of devotional booklets and place them where she hoped someone might see them, pick one up, and be ministered to by its inspirational content. Then she proceeded to ignore her own physical discomfort long enough to interact with the cashier and the person bagging our groceries with a warm smile, a laugh and kind words.

My mom is not perfect. And she’ll likely be embarrassed when she discovers I wrote this about her and will remind me of her faults. Certainly there are days when her ailments negatively affect her spirit and attitude. However, on this Mother’s Day weekend I’m thankful for a mom who still often seeks to be a witness for Christ and tries to positively touch the lives of others whom she encounters. It reminds me of a description given in one of the Psalms. “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright” (Psalm 92:12-15).