Where I got my "S" from

On Saturday, my sister and brothers will be giving my mom a retirement sit down dinner for 150 of her nearest and dearest friends-lol. After years of working for the State she has finally (as of 12/31) punched her last clock at formal employment. For the four of us (me and my siblings), it has been quite the eye-opener as to how absolutely incredible our mom really is. We also had to recognize how much her example and tenacity in every area of her life still teaches us today.

Honestly, the S on my chest was inherited from her.

I did not grow up in a "step family" situation. My parents are still married and together as we speak...but I do know that if my mom had not been the kinda mom she was, I would not have been prepared to be a wife, a mother, divorced, single again, single parent, married again, stepparent. If she had simply been a housewife, I would not have gained the perspective of working, getting my education, being a diligent employee and helping my household financially. Had she just been a corporate worker with housekeepers and drivers, I may not have known how to make a house a home with little or nothing. Not in a million years..would I have had the guts and drive to press the way I did had it not been for her example.

She was not just the stay at home mom type..she wasn't just the corporate type...she did them both plus some...she did them all...and unlike many unmotivated mothers claim today, she was anointed to be able to do them all well..she did what she had to do. She raised us, was a wife to my dad, was full time active in church, volunteered and supported every nuance we were involved in. She did laundry, dishes, homework, mopped, vacumned, cooked, took out garbage, paint, swept, organized, ironed, prepared her sunday school lesson, taught us our memory work, AND punched the clock M-F 40 hours a week or more to help bring substance into our home and not work my dad to death. SHE IS THE BOMB!! You betta ask somebody....shoooooot my mom's cape is flying in the wind.

The S on my chest was inherited from her.

So when I was faced with having to work full time, go to school full time, be a mom full time, volunteer for school functions, prepare to teach at church in SS and VBS and BTU and so on...pay the bills, clean the house, check the homework, comb hair, get the car fixed, catch the bus, AND pucnh the clock 40 hours a week M-F...I could follow my MOM-who through faith and patience had inherited the promise. When now faced with the added stress and complexities of a stepfamily and a former widower as your spouse...my 1st mind (as grandma would say)..says I'm outta here...but because of the impossibilities I saw her achieve..I have no excuses. There's no whining in womanhood!

I also couldn't go to her with a cockamamie story whining about what I couldn't do...I mean could of, but it wouldn't have been pretty. She's a no excuses kinda lady. "I can do ALL things through Christ which strengthens me" she would make us say. "There is no exception or anything that can stand outside of ALL. ALL is ALL- God is God or He ain't...which is it for you? Then gather the grace and get ta gettin'... And I did. crying...scared...tired...but I pushed and crawled and everntually ran... and my mom was right. I didn't have to settle for one side or the other...I could have everything that God has for me to do...and if He anoints and empowers me I can not just do somethings...I can do ALL things.

The S on my chest I inherited from her.

Now...in my kids I see the trickle down "Darlene" effect. They are hard workers. They will take on anything! If it means taking the bus, they will hop on. If it means saving, while others are spending, they will do without and work toward a goal. If it means extra hours on the job or doing your hair, or paying your own tuition, or whatever it takes...they will get it done. They are goal oriented, will write a list in a minute. They don't mind sacrifice. They don't necessarily like it-but they can manage it successfully. They aren't afraid to make the hard choices. I love that about them...Those are also the kind of things my mom loves about me..she told me once...Girl, you just keep getting back up don't cha?...

yup mom I do...See this this S on my chest I inherited from you. Happy Retirement Ma..I hope Jerica and Jordan eventually do the S proud.