MEMORIES OF MY MOM

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   Today is Mother’s Day. 

1.    It was adopted as a national holiday in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson.

2.    This means that this is the 111^th celebration of this national event.

 

B.   The day is supposed to be a celebration of mothers.

1.    Mothers are women who bear children.

2.    Mothers are women who adopt children.

3.    Mothers are women who have children, grandchildren, and, perhaps, grandchildren.

4.    Mothers can also be women who have a major influence in the lives of children who are not their own.

 

C.   Good mothers are truly a gift from God.

1.    They bring their children into this world.

2.    They nurture their children until they are adults.

3.    They train their children to be responsible citizens.

4.    They protect their children from the wickedness of the world.

5.    They raise their children to know God, His Son, the truth, and the church.

6.    They set before their children an example that is worthy to be followed.

7.    They love their children’s father and enable him to rise to positions of greatness.

 

D.   Those seven points were almost the lesson that I preached today.  Instead, I chose the title:  “Memories of My Mom.”

1.    My mom’s name is Mary Hazel Eskew.

2.    She was born on March 31, 1937.

3.    Her parents’ names were Aubry and Veatrice Chester.

4.    She had two older brothers, Wayne and Raymond.

5.    She grew up on a farm in Camden, TN.

6.    She completed high school and two years of college.

7.    She married my father on August 16, 1958.

8.    She worked as a bookkeeper at Nurre Glass Company for over 30 years.

9.    She finished her career working for a Real Estate firm in Memphis.

10. Mom passed from this life on September 25, 2018.  She was 82 years old.

 

I.             MOM LOVED TO TRAVEL

 

A.   While I was growing up, we always went on 2-week vacations in pop-up camper to various places in the U.S.

 

B.   While my father was alive, my mom and dad would take bus tours in the summer within the U.S.

 

C.   After my father passed away, my mom when on several trips to places around the world.  She took me on one occasion on a 12-day tour entitled:  “The Footsteps of Paul.”

 

D.   I share my mom’s love of travel.  If I had the funds, I would travel the world for 2 or three years.

 

 

II.           MOM WAS ONE WHO ALWAYS CARED DEEPLY FOR HER CHILDREN

 

A.   Four things that were proof.

1.    Cook who prepared our food

2.    Nurse for our sicknesses and hurts

3.    Counselor to give us direction for our lives.

4.    An encourager: baseball, guitar, piano, football, and scouts

 

B.   Verses from the virtuous woman text:

1.    Proverb 31:14-15

 

She is like the merchant’s ships; she bringeth her food from afar.  She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household…

 

2.    Proverbs 31:26

 

She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

 

III.         MOM WAS ONE WHO WORKED HARD TO HELP PROVIDE FOR HER FAMILY

 

A.   My parents were not wealthy. 

1.    My father was an electrician and had his heating and cooling license.  He worked for the City of Memphis for a long time. 

2.    My mother worked as a bookkeeper for a family-owned glass company for over 30 years.

3.    NOTE:  She did not forsake her motherly duties in order to work. 

a.    She made sure we had breakfast, lunch, and supper.

b.    She washed and dried our clothes.

c.    She cleaned the house.

d.    She took us to the doctor.

e.    She helped with homework.

f.     She shelled peas, shucked corn, peeled potatoes, scraped carrots, washed greens, and fried the fish we would catch.

 

B.   Verses from the virtuous woman text:

1.    “…and worketh willingly with her hands” (Prov. 30:13).

2.    Proverbs 31:17

 

She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheth her arms.

 

3.    Proverbs 31:27

 

She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

 

IV.         MOM WAS NOT ONE WHO NEEDED TO BE SERVED

 

A.   Mom was never one to ask a lot from others. 

 

B.   Instead, she always wanted to be doing for others.

1.    She helped care for our cousins when my uncle went through a divorce.

2.    She helped care for my grandmother the last three or four years of her life.

3.    She coordinated activities for a group of older ladies who attended several different churches in the Memphis area.

4.    She became a friend to several of the preacher students at MSOP.

 

C.   Two verses:

1.    Galatians 5:13

 

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

 

2.    Mark 10:43-44

 

But so shall it not be among you:  but whosever will be great among you, shall be your minister:  and whosever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.

 

V.           MOM WAS A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR US

 

A.   Mom did not smoke, drink, or cuss.

 

B.   Mom always attended worship services and Bible classes.

 

C.   Mom seldom, if ever, gripped and complained.

 

D.   Mom had several friends and loved to have fun and laugh.

 

E.   Thanksgivings and Christmases were filled with food, sweets, and gifts.

 

F.    2 Timothy 1:5

 

When I call to remembrance the unfeign faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

 

VI.         MOM WANTED TO LIVE A LIFE OF NO REGRETS

 

A.   My mom and dad did not always have it easy in their marriage.

1.    My father was bi-polar for many years, and we did not know it.

2.    My father became an alcoholic while dealing with his manic-depressive episodes.

3.    My father had many health problems and accidents.

a.    A ruptured ulcer as a young man

b.    Four back operations

c.    A brain operation

d.    Acid in his eyes at work

e.    Burned his feet at work

f.     Fell from a ladder at work

g.    Two bouts of shingles

h.    High blood pressure

i.     Emphysema

 

B.   During all of this, it would have been easy for my mom to leave my dad.  In addition to his problems, he was not always the easiest to get along with.  He was never violent, but he could be mean with his words.

 

C.   When we asked mom why she stayed through all of this, she said:  “When I get to the end of life, I do not want to have any regrets.” 

 

D.   The virtuous woman of Proverbs 31:11-12.

 

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.  She will do him good and not evil all the days of his life.

 

VII.       MOM HAD A GOOD AND HONEST HEART

 

A.   My mom did not grow up in the church.  Her family were Methodists.

 

B.   My father was a member of the church, but was not faithful when they married.

 

C.   They knew that they needed to make certain their children had religion in their lives.

1.    My father was the one who moved us from the Methodist Church to the Christian Church to the churches of Christ.

2.    Originally, my mother was baptized in the Christian Church.  Because her baptism was “for the remission of sins,” it was accepted by many.

 

D.   After I started preaching, I was convinced that a person needed to understand that upon being baptized one was added by the Lord to the true church.

1.    This understanding came from Acts 8:12, 1 Corinthians 12:12, and Acts 2:47.

 

But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

 

2.    For quite some time, I spoke to my mother about this issue. 

a.    I stressed that when she was baptized for the remission of sins in the Christian Church she had no concept of being added to the church.

b.    I stressed that the Lord does not add a person to His church when the individual does not have an understanding of the church.

3.    I am not sure of the year, but one day my mother called me and said:  “Vic, I want you to know that I was baptized today for the remission of sins and added by the Lord to the church.”  Jim Laws, the preacher of the Getwell church of Christ at that time, baptized her.

4.    Luke 8:15

 

But that on good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   I was blessed by God to have the mother that I had.

 

B.   She was not perfect, but she was patient, kind, loving, honest, and blameless.  She took the practice of her Christian faith seriously. 

 

C.   She loved the Lord.  She loved my dad.  She loved her family.  She loved her church family.

 

D.   Proverbs 31:28a

 

Her children arise up, and call her blessed…