Things my mother taught me...

- Think outside the box
My mom has never been afraid to live outside cultural norms. Whether its deciding to homeschool her children, use nontraditional medicine, or grow most of her own vegetables, my mom does what she thinks is right for her and her family. She lives according to her own conscience, her own deeply held principles, and she holds on despite persecution from others.

- Eat a healthy diet
I am so very grateful for all of the homecooked meals and nonprocessed foods I ate growing up. My mom cooked simply and from scratch, using items from her garden and the local natural foods co-op. We bought in bulk, and shied away from popular items like Kraft Mac N Cheese. I know that I’m healthier because of the decisions my mom made for her children, and I know that I am making healthier decisions for my family today because of that. It’s not something I need to work so hard at because I have a solid foundation. She taught me to weed, pick my own vegetables and to can.

- Live simply
We didn’t have a ton of stuff when I was a kid. It wasn’t just because my dad was a self-employed contractor who was without work many winters, but because my mom made a conscious choice not to be overrun with clutter. When it was time to buy us bicycles or walkmans, they bought high-quality items that wouldn’t need to be replaced all the time because my mom doesn’t want to fill up the landfill. So, we had some toys, but our drawers weren’t overflowing with them. There are some days that I’m frustrated that I can’t find many toys to pass down to my kids, but then I realize that the lesson of not having so much is more valuable. It also makes for a simpler, cleaner house that is filled with a sense of peace. I can relax at my mom’s house.

- Rest when you need to
My mom has always paid attention to what her body needs, and when its rest she makes sure she stops for a nap. I think that’s a pretty valuable lesson. She doesn’t try to fight what her body tells her it needs, but she pays attention and responds.

- Volunteer and do for others
My parents were both models of giving selflessly. They brought us to Mexico and Papua New Guinea to help others through missions work. They sought to show God’s love to others by doing and not just saying. My mom drove us to the library each week when I was a teenager to not only encourage my voracious love of reading but to also put in volunteer hours in the basement. Like most moms, mine put aside some of her own desires to do what she felt was more important, to be a mom who was there for her kids. As we grow older, I think I value this more and more, and see how important it is to live unselfishly. We should live fully as ourselves, but that often means looking beyond ourselves and being a part of a larger effort to love each other. My mother has been an example to me of this.

- Support your children’s dreams
I always knew I wanted to be a writer. Not once did my mom tell me I should go for a career that was more steady. Instead, she encouraged my dreams every step of the way and did what she could to pave the road for me. Thanks for that, mom. And for everything else I didn’t mention in this post.