18 Things My Mom Has Taught Me in 18 Years

Moms. They're so wonderful aren't they? I love my mom so much, and since Mother's Day is in a couple days, I thought I would do a post on Moms. Well, my mom. Because she's the best.

So I'm not eighteen for several more months, but I thought it was close enough. My mom has taught me more than just eighteen things, but my post would be too long to name all of it.



To begin:

1. God First
Every since we (my siblings and I) were young, my mom would sing to us Sunday school songs, and read those cool animated Bible stories. God always came first. It's very important to my mom, and therefore, very important to her children. Which in turn, has allowed each of us to grow in Jesus and develop our own personal relationships.

2. Be Kind
The world is harsh, people around us will hurt us, but we can always bounce back from it. Be always kind to others and they will be kind back (maybe, sometimes... Even if they don't, still be kind). Treat others the way you want to be treated.

3. Dream Big
My mom has taught be the importance of dreams, the importance of reaching for the stars. She taught me that it's okay to have big plans, but don't exclude Jesus from those plans. We have a big God, so we can have big dreams.

4. Love Widely
My mom once told me that I never know what a person is going through, what they're feeling. She told me to love them like God loves us. Sometimes people are unlovable, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't reach out and try.

5. Keep Promises
Sometimes I will tell my younger brother "I promise". And heaven forbid I not do what I promised. If my mom overhears that I promised, she makes sure I do (so does my younger brother). She's taught me that promises are things you keep and not something you toss away as a passing comment.

6. Be Unique
Don't conform to the world. "Be yourself, and that's all that matters," mom would say. I will always carry that through life. The importance of being yourself and learning to not care what others think. It's okay to be different. It's okay to be unique.

7. Everyone is Beautiful
You're beautiful, she's beautiful and everyone else is, too. Inner beauty is better than outer beauty and everyone is beautiful in their own ways.

8. Live Simply
Less clutter, more simple. Sometimes the house gets messy and things get unorganized and OCD me hates that. But my mom has taught me that messy homes are okay and that living a simpler life is always a good thing.

9. Be Yourself
This goes along with being unique, but it's a little different. Sometimes you can try too hard to be 'unique' that you forget to just be yourself.

10. Life's Hard
"Nothing good ever comes easy," mom said once when talking about life. God made things perfect and His will was for it to all be easy, but in the end, mankind sinned and nothing was easy ever since. Marriage isn't easy, working isn't easy, having kids or going through school isn't easy. If it is, something is wrong.

11. Never Quit
Mom has taught me the importance of keeping on. To not give up when it gets tough. I tell ya, the amount of times I wanted to quit writing and voiced that to my mom, she'd ask why and I'd complain about how hard it is. She'd tell me life isn't easy and that we work for what we love. I haven't given up writing and ended up entering a novel contest that I would have never entered without her encouragement.

12. Music is Important
My parents made me take piano lessons when I was younger. There were times I hated it and times I loved it. My mom always made sure I practiced the piano everyday after school and through the summer. She'd help me with my music the best she could. She said that learning music was important. I'm so glad she showed me the importance of that.

13. Don't Doubt Yourself
If you love it, if you want it, then quit doubting yourself. A few years back I got asked if I would give piano lessons to some kids. I was terrified. I didn't want to totally ruin these kids' music life. But my mom told me to stop doubting myself and to just give it a go. I ended up really loving teaching music and the kiddos have learned so much.

14. Don't be Angry
Don't. It gets you on a quick path to nowhere when you get angry and bitter. It doesn't do a thing for anyone. All it does is make it so you don't enjoy what's going on around you. Positive thinking is always the best.

15. Being a Lady is a Privilege
I know I've kept the above points kind of general, but I'm going to say this one. Because it's really important. When I was younger (and still sometimes now *coughs*) I hated being a girl. I didn't want boys opening doors for me, or helping me carry stuff. Because I could do it on my own, right? Mom taught me that being a lady is a privilege and it's something beautiful. That boys aren't trying to show me how weak I am, but how special I am when they help me out. (Still learning that one, though.)

16. Always Hope
I know there have been some pretty hard times in my life, when I was too sick to move or get out of bed. When things seemed bleak and like they would never let up. Mom never once left my side. She would take care of me, bring me coffee to try and alleviate the headaches or just pray with me. She taught me that even through times like that, God has a plan and that there's always hope. As the Doctor would say: "One thing I've learned is that there is, surprisingly, always hope." My mom has showed me that. (And yeah, I just really wanted to add a Doctor Who comment, because Eleven. <3)

17. Silence is Good
Sometimes we want to defend ourselves, argue back or just try and justify what we did. Sometimes it's okay to just stay quiet. Silence isn't bad.

18. Dark Chocolate, Yo
You're argument is invalid.

But seriously. My mom is my best friend and she means the world to me. My mom eats dark chocolate with me, watches Once Upon a Time and Doctor Who with me (even though sometimes she's confused... :P), it's nice to just have her sitting next to me on the couch, hot coffee in our hands. She's got a big heart and a great mind. I wouldn't be who I am today without her. And at first I didn't want to post a sappy Mother's Day post, but everything I am today is because of my mom and dad and since this weekend is about mom, I did one anyways. Have a wonderful rest of your day and I hope maybe you can take something out of this and appreciate your mom. Mothers put a lot work into raising us lot of a generation. So thank your mom, tell her how much you love her. <3