Pages

Sunday, May 10, 2009

My Mother In Law...The Lady Who Is A True Mother

Since my mother is no longer here (she passed away a year and a half ago), I decided to dedicate today to my sweet mother in law. Here is how this wonderful lady came into my life, and how she has been the super best buddy I have had in a long time!
When I was 16 years old (man that seems like a long time ago...July 1991), I was given a job at Hardee's as a cashier. The manager would be the lady who would train me on how to wait on customers, clean, and run the drive through. This was my first meeting with Janice Sikora, my future mother in law. At first instance, I thought that this lady was C-R-A-Z-Y!! She was mean (or at least I thought so at the time!) and very demanding! Actually, she was neither of those things! She just liked to make sure that her shift ran smoothly and in doing so, you had to run a tight ship!
She and I liked to work together, because I was a hard worker, and I always did my best. I can remember one day in August of 1991 I walked in and there standing on this ladder changing a light bulb was the most handsome guy I had ever seen in my entire life. He was every woman's dream. I went to the counter and asked who that was, and Janice said, "Oh that's my son, Stephen." I remember telling God that day (this was before I even knew who I was praying to), "That is my future husband".
Fastforward a couple of weeks to the end of August. I found out that Stephen and his girlfriend has broken up and I was to chicken to ask him out so guess what I did? I asked his mom to ask him out for me! LOL And she did! Can you believe it? The rest is history. We fell in love and got married.
All the things that I remember about learning to be a wife and mother, I learned from my mother in law. Because of my not so pretty high school years, my own mother and I had a strained relationship. I was looking for a mother and I found that in my mother in law. As I dated her son, she would sit and have conversations with me about things going on in my life. She was not pushy and demanded that I do things her way (the way my own mother was), but she listened and then offered advice to either be taken or done away with at my own choice.
She showed me how to wash clothes (which I burned my first load...don't ask me how!), and she showed me how to cook and care for a household. She allowed me and Stephen to live with her until we could afford our own place, and she helped us take care of our newborn infant when that time came.
She and I have been through so much together. She was there the during my first pregnancy and had to be the one to drive me to the hospital (she received a broken arm and a HUGE goose egg on her head from that night). She was there for me the day I accepted Christ as my Savior, she has prayed with me and for me more than I care to count. She was there to comfort me when my own mother died.
She has been such a blessing in my life. We have also had our ups and downs, and our normal family quarrels, but through it all, I thank God everyday for finding someone to fill the gap in my own life to fulfill that motherly need I had.


Today as you are celebrating Mother's Day, don't forget those sweet mother in laws who love you just as much as your own mother. She may be just the grandmother, but she is also a mother!




Happy Mother's Day J! I love you!!

1 comment:

Nancy said...

What a loving tribute to your Mother in law. So neat that you actually met Stephen through working with her. God definitely works in mysterious ways, doesn't He? :O)

Thanks for sharing how God has used her in your lives. I love those pics from the 90's. You were rockin girl!