Happy Mother's Day

Thank God for Women

   I want to celebrate the women in my life today. I give thanks for my mother Edlea Kelly Jones. Born in New Orleans in 1925 she was the oldest of four and after her father lost his construction business in the Great Depression, she helped raise her younger brothers and sister. She moved to Washington DC to help win the second world war and worked for the Navy and in the White House. Her younger sister was in my father's youth group when he was youth pastor at Metropolitan Memorial UMC. You ought to meet my older sister. And the rest is history.

   She moved with my father to the Congo in the middle fifties and was the principal of the school on the mission station in Kindu. She also gave birth to my younger brother Kelly while in the Congo. We had to be evacuated a couple of years later from Katanga. She kept us going in faith through all those upheavals and changes because her faith was so strong, and because she had been through trouble growing up. She went back to school when my youngest brother hit school all day and graduated from the University of Maryland. She went back an earned a Master's degree in Library Science. Hence my love for books.

   My mother was killed in an automobile accident on my youngest son's birthday in 1989. A farmer driving cows to a market, ran a red light and hit her broadside in her small car. Five Bishops and over 800 people came to her funeral, a reflection on the many lives she touched in so many ways. She will always be a beacon of light for me.

   My senior year in high school I had an english teacher who was extremely hard on me. Mrs Whitman pushed and challenged me to grow in my use of the language. Her efforts paid off, my SAT scores went up 157 points from the first time I took the test, to the one that counted for college. She made a huge difference in my life because she was so tough. Sometimes, women have to be hard on us to get us to grow, and I am thankful for her efforts on my behalf.

   My last Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Price, was a gem too. We rode the bus to the Westminster UMC for Sunday School and worship my freshman year at Western Maryland, Now Mc Daniel College. She taught or allowed us to share our thoughts in our Ekklesia class. She even looked me up and prayed with me when I returned to the area as a pastor in the Manchester Charge, when I got out of seminary. She demonstrate love, support, encouragement and nurture in many ways.

   Perhaps you have a woman in your life who nurtured you, or challenged you, or loved you unconditionally that ended up influencing your growth and maturity as a person and as a follower of Jesus. I would love to hear from you about who they might be as we take time to honor the women in our lives this weekend.

   Blessings on all the women, and blessings on you

Pastor Jeff