Mothers Day - Anne Beard

First of all, let me say that I have the greatest, most thoughtful mother-in-law of all time. I cannot believe how lucky I got! The Lord not only blessed me with an amazing husband, but with a husband with a mother who taught him how to be a "man" in the Purest sense of the word. I am sure Scott had something to do with that too...but today I am celebrating Anne!

For the rest of this post, enter my guest blogger!!!!!

Everyone welcome ANDREW BEARD!

Thank you, thank you...you're too kind.

Well, it's Mother's Day Weekend. This is the weekend when CVS, Walgreens, and gas stations do some of their biggest flower and candy business with forgetful sons and dads. When I was in High School our prom was always the Saturday before Mother's Day, so there I was...every year in Hy-Vee at 1 in the morning buying a Hershey's bar and a Mother's Day card...I was very thoughtful. But...though unfortunately I haven't improved in the planning ahead department very well, I've come to be a person who reflects much more. So, with this weekend upon us I've been thinking about my Mom (Anne Beard) a lot.

When I was growing up my Dad traveled a lot for business. He was on the road most weeks Tuesday-Thursday providing for my mom, my two brothers (Brian and Thomas), me, and our endless list of activities (mostly my endless list of activities...looking back as an adult, I was a really expensive child...sorry about that). But due to my dad on the road three days a week, my mom was extremely busy carting us around, keeping us dressed and fed. In the midst of that craziness my mom was unbelievably organized. In fact when I reflect back, I cannot believe how my mom kept everything in order so beautifully. I can barely keep myself together now...I cannot imagine having three sons running amuck through my house draining my bank account. So on this Mother's Day I would like to celebrate and recognize some of the amazing things/memories of my mom Anne Beard.

-My mom uses lists like nobody's business. Her planner is full of her life broken down into lists. She one time told me that if she was mugged she would tell the mugger to take everything, but leave the planner. With that list she keeps everything in order and she takes so much joy in crossing something off that list. I've even seen her cross out, then ex out, then scribble out, then even tear off the item that she accomplished off the paper in the planner. I've found myself sometimes even listing things to do, that I've already done just so I can cross them off.

-My mom is the queen of volunteers. Growing up she was (and still is) constantly volunteering at church, at non-profits, and at food kitchens. As I remember it during the summer my mom would drag us to church to fold bulletins and newsletters for what seemed like forever on a beautiful sunny day, but I'm sure it was just a few hours. She still helps fold the bulletins and newsletters happily every week. In fact, a few years back my parents skipped celebrating Thanksgiving and spent the day delivering food to people who couldn't afford their own Thanksgiving meal. I believe my parents being so giving of their time, money, and gifts is part of the reason I work in the ministry today.

-One of my favorite memories is during the summer my mom would often be up and running errands at what seemed like the crack of dawn. As she would head out she would walk into my room and let me know that I needed to get up and do a list of chores (that I would inevitably not hear because I was still asleep). Regularly the next thing I would hear is the garage door opening because she was now home...and I was still in bed...without accomplishing a single chore. I would jump out of the bed, run to the kitchen to check the list of chores she left for me, and as best as possible try to make it look like I had done those chores while she was gone. My mom told me many years later that when she would get home from running those morning errands she could hearing the scampering of feet when she walked into the house and knew exactly what had happened. I was rather disappointed, I thought I had fooled her.

-My mom loves chocolate. So growing up (and still today) when I couldn't think of what to get her for holidays, it was going to be chocolate of some sort. We got her chocolate everything. I remember her once getting a huge pill that was made out of chocolate. My fear is someday she's going to let us know that she doesn't even like chocolate, but she doesn't say anything because she is so nice...

-My mom always found ripe bananas and chocolate chips as an opportunity to bake banana bread and chocolate chip cookies. I often find myself now checking out the ripeness of bananas and always wanting to make cookies.

-My mom has the best memory of anyone I know. She will definitely remember every one of my friends, their names, their spouses names, what they do, and more. I love it. She always knows who I'm talking about when I tell stories and asks lots of questions.

-Once when I was a kid my mom was out running errands and my brother and I got into an argument. He locked himself in his room and I proceeded to kick a hole through the door with my bare foot...whoops...I knew I was in trouble. So I laid down hoping I would wake up and it would all be a dream...but it wasn't. I then heard the van pull into the driveway, so I decided that I should soften the blow by going out and seeing if my mom needed any help bringing anything in. When I was standing outside her door helping her open it and asked "can I help you with anything?" She responded with, "what did you do?" Dang...she saw right through me. Despite my shortcomings, failures, and disappointments my mom continues to love me. I feel so unbelievably blessed to have such an amazing mom.

Thanks mom for all you've done and had to put up with. This world is a better place because you live in it. I love you. Happy Mother's Day.

Below are a few more pictures of my amazing mom.