Glenda Roth - Its been 13 years since my mom went to be home with the Lord. I still miss her, but I would rather have her praising the Lord for eternity than to be with us. So many things could be said about her. She had incredible patience. She endured my strange antics as a boy. She protected us from tornado warnings when we lived in Georgia (They always seemed to come when dad was on a trip.) As I got older, her diligent study of the word became more visible as she started attending a woman's Bible Study. I saw her selfless attitude displayed to the women in the bible study. She took care of her mother as long as she could even in the final months leading up to her home going.
No one wants to see their parent suffer like she did. Especially, a disease like pancreatic cancer. But what is the result for a Christian? A shorter life? Maybe. But you get to heaven quicker and isn't that our goal, to be with the Lord forever? I love my mom and thank the Lord for the time I had with her.
Kathy Guyle - Sister #1 - Kathy has gone through many challenging times (including a uninhabitable house from the 94 Earthquake) in her life. Yet through it all, I have seen her grow in her walk with the Lord and display an attitude of grace, forgiveness and mercy. I love her very much
Patty Ardavanis - Sister #2 - What I admire most about Patty is the time she has invested in her Children's spiritual growth. She has spent many tireless hours to this end. As I see her kids growing up and getting to the point where some of them will be leaving the house in next few years, I am blown away by their maturity. (I know I am a biased uncle.) I pray that the Lord will use them mightily in the next few years.
Elizabeth Roth - My wife - I first met Elizabeth in 1997 on Labor Day as she was headed to Israel for her last semester at Master's. It would be four years before the Lord would bring us together, but when we started dating things went quickly. It was a no-brainer. Through some nice talks over a season of time I thought in my mind Elizabeth the type woman I wanted to marry. The next thought was, if she is type of woman I want to marry, why not her. Now almost 7 years into marriage, Baby Jack, our third child, Lord willing, will be here in a month. Maybe even on our anniversary. I am thankful for her diligent and faithful teaching of our children in the ways of the Lord. I love to see the adoring look on her face, when something our children has done touches her heart. At no time is she more beautiful and she is beautiful all the time. She has even taken up her husband's love of running and completed a half marathon.
I know this is getting long, but I couldn't end without saying I appreciated Mary Hanggi. She is the best mother in law in the world and a great grandmother to our children.
I hope we all tell our moms this weekend how much we love them.
Happy Mom's day.
2 comments:
Steve, What a wonderful tribute to the women in your life. I happen to think you are a very blessed man to have Elizabeth as your wife and the mother for your children. Take good care of her!
This is so weird - I have no idea how I stumbled upon this post. I was doing a google search and I saw names that I recognized, and here I am!
Steve, I am teary-eyed after reading what you wrote about your mom. Your mom was, is, and always will be one of my favorite women ever. She was an incredible blessing to our family, and so was your dad. She was, by far, my mom's most faithful and only truly consistent friend, and my mom loved her so, so much! She was a dear, godly friend to my mom even when it was difficult (things were not always easy with my mom), and she was an incredible influence upon my life through her example and in the things that she would say to me and to my mom. Your parents would even transport my brother and I too and from church when my parents were unable to do so.
I will never forget when she got sick, and I will never forget the day that the Lord took her home - my mom was happy that your mom was rejoicing before the Lord, but she was also heartbroken. When the Lord took my mom home a few years later, one of the last understandable things that she said when she was talking about going home was that she would get to see Glenda again soon.
Anyway, I don't know if you guys will even see this comment since the post was written a few months ago, but I was amazed to stumble upon this and I had to post something!
Hi, Elizabeth! You look so beautiful, as always! Congratulations to both of you on the birth of Baby Jack! :)
Love,
Laina
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