Lois Snell

On Motherhood

2011-03-26T06:42:00Z

I've always felt that a mother's love was the closest to God's. This is no intended disrespect to fathers, but being a mother, I know the deep rooted love that exists. I know that we often find our purpose when we become mothers.

Yet, we never outgrow the need for mothering. There should always be those older than we who are inspirational in feeding us pearls of wisdom. Likewise, there should be a bevy of youngers benefiting from our exprience, poreing into our lives. Our very existence should touch others deeply, leaving indelible impressions even when we are no more.

I was blessed to have a beautiful, warm, loving mother but I felt the blessing ended too soon. She died when I was three years old. Yet, God gave me another beautiful, warm, loving mother in the form of my natural aunt--my father's sister--who took me in, raised me to adulthood, poring countless hours into my well-being. She loved me unconditionally and treated me as her own. But, I felt that blessing ended too soon. She died in my very early twenties.

Years later, God sent me another mother, beautiful, smart, witty and hilarious at times. She became my "Mother of Heart" as she puts it. How appropiate. She decided to become my mother, I imagine, feeling the need to smooth out a few rough edges in me that I didn't know existed. In doing so, she became grandmother to my children and later, grand children. Yes, I was much older when my Mother of Heart chose me through God's divine design and how grateful I am for His will.

Years later, I moved to the Dallas area and God sent me another "Mother of Heart"--beautiful, warm, witty and also hilarious at times. You see, we never outgrow the need for laughter, the need to seek wise counsel or the need to live in close communication with others. The love of Jesus, the Christ, is shown through these four women, in their selfless giving, in their constant lifting up, in their true walk with Christ. I thank Jesus for showing me a glimpse of Himself through these mothers. I thank God for giving me the wisdom that it's okay to love different mothers. I know that my mothers who've crossed over into eternity would be happy that I'm united with Mothers of Heart by God's design. There is not guilt, no condemnation, no feeling that I'm lessening my natural mothers' impact on my life. God has given me the wisdom that it's just fine to appreciate all the Mothers in my life.

I pray the same love and wisdom is awarded you.

Lois Snell
www.loissnell.com

PRAYER IN THE WORKPLACE

2010-12-06T20:19:00Z

One of the things I enjoy is leisurably strolling through thrift shops. Recently, I visited one in my area, arriving just as they were opening. When I walked in, the employees were all holding hands in a circle and each pouring out praises and prayers to God, our Heavenly Father. I was shocked and humbled at the cite, knowing I'd stumbled in on something both beautiful and sacred.    Lingering in the background, I was blessed by their prayers, their openess, sincerity and honesty.

I'd frequented this thrift shop before and had always experienced a sense of calm there. Gospel music filtered the air and I'd equated that to the niceness of the employees. But, when I'd invaded their prayer session, I realized that it wasn't simply the music being fed into their spirits all day. They had a genuine respect for each other and people in general. They knew where their blessings came from. They respected, honored and placed their trust in Jesus, the Christ. It's seldom you see 12-15 people speaking on one accord uplifting the name of Jesus when not at church.

This was prayer in the workplace.

Yes, the workplace where it's often taboo to mention prayer, much less to openly offer it. In my working years, I'd been called in on the red carpet for my committment to prayer, not that I openly offered it in the workplace. But others recognized me as a woman of prayer and often came to me unexpectedly asking that I pray for them for one reason or another. I was only too happy to oblidge and promised that I'd pray for them that night. When time permitted, I'd pray for their situations in the privacy of my mind so as not to forget.

This was prayer in the workplace--in private.

Both prayer in the workplace and prayer in the workplace--in private are important. But, what a joy and a blessing to see prayer in the workplace. We've strayed too far from God's teaching. Jesus was always found in prayer. He often slipped away to a quiet place so He could converse with his Father in private. This is the preferred method of prayer--you and the Father. Yet, Jesus prayed openly for his disciples and men of all times, which includes you and me.

Remember where your blessings come from. Remember to pray without ceasing, that includes in the workplace.

ON CHRISTMAS

2008-12-31T09:49:00Z

As long as I can remember, Christmas has always been my favorite season. As a child, our home was filled with laughter and love and smelled of the sweets of many cakes and pies that Mama baked. The table and side tables were filled with several different varieties of sweets ranging from tea cakes to gingerbread to apple and sweet potato pies. In addition, there were the huge boxes filled with red-ripe apples, huge oranges and various nuts in glass bowls. Cases of soda pop sit on the floor and I'd pick out my alloted three, watching daily to make sure no one had mistakenly laid hands on mine. At school, we'd happily cheered when the train carrying Santa Claus passed through town and he waived at us. This made us feel quite special and we knew we'd be getting wonderful toys.

It was nearly impossible to go to sleep, the excitement of Christmas was almost too much for a youngster to bear. The thing that weighed heavily on our minds was that Santa would sprinkle pepper in our eyes should he catch us awake and there'd be no toys for us. Therefore, we forced our eyes closed until sleep came to visit. And, we were never dissappointed the next morning. I never understood how Mama and Daddy were up and cheery before we went to sleep and up and cherrier the following morning. Did they not need sleep on Christmas Eve? We were never disappointed on Christmas morning. Santa had delivered.

Years passed before I realized that Santa Claus was fictional, that my toys, gifts and clothing had come from Mama and Daddy. I don't recall being too disappointed--after all, my gifts were real. The cakes, pies and fruits were real--their taste still sweet and delicious. Then, the realization came that Christmas was not about sweets and toys. Christmas is the birthday of Jesus, the Christ. Christmas represents the greatest gift ever given--the gift of salvation, of forgiveness of sin, from the True and Living God to man.

Christmas is still my favorite season. Viewing it through eyes of an adult rather than eyes of a child allows me to appreciate it more. My gifts to my children and others reflects the love I feel for them; but, they can never compare to the gift Jesus gave to the world.