Thursday, June 17, 2010

A Legacy of Love

My mom, Donna Thompson, went to be with the Lord on Sunday, June 13th.  Her life has made a profound impact on the people that knew her.  The following is what I wrote to sum up how I feel about her life.  She loves the Lord with all that she is.  Her five children, 13 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren have seen how she lived out that love.  This is the legacy that she leaves.

A Legacy of Love
My mom’s legacy is one of LOVE. Mom loved the Lord and allowed His love to flow through her. She loved without expectation, without looking for return, she just loved people with the love of the Lord. She wanted them to know the love Christ has for them. My mom is the richest person I know because she loved.

Many people quote 1 Corinthians 13, but when I look at my mom’s life, she lived it. The love she shared was long suffering, kind, never paraded or puffed up. I can think of so many situations where she didn’t think of her own self, but loved without thinking evil or looking at the wrongs of a person’s situation, but only of how she could love on them, and in that share the love of Christ.

Mom didn’t do this by herself though; she took her family with her. I can’t count the times our days consisted of serving others because they had a need – a ride to the grocery store, spending time with someone who couldn’t get out, gathering food or clothing for a family in need. We had kids in our home after school, even after all of her own children were grown, just letting them spend time, giving them snacks and talking to them about their lives and about the difference Jesus makes in our lives.

Mom taught me to see people through the eyes of Jesus. She knew that if they would only surrender to His love, their lives would be transformed. Mom knew life could be hard. She had seen the effects of alcohol and drug abuse on a life, on a family. But she had also encountered the life-changing, heart healing power of Jesus Christ.

There is so much I could say about my mom. You can see the legacy of love if you look at her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Mom’s one desire is for others to know the Lord, to really know Him and to allow His love to transform their heart and mind.

Mom only knew in part, only saw in a mirror dimly, but now she is face to face with perfect love, now she is in the full presence of the One who is LOVE, the ONE who first loved us.

For Mom, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and that is where we will see her again.