My Mom...

My mom died in September of 2005.  I can remember the date because Tina and I were in Galveston at the time preparing to sail on the Rhapsody of the Seas in celebration of our 20th wedding anniversary.  Last Friday, her only sibling--my aunt--died as well.  The passing of Aunt Caroline brought back much of the sadness that I felt with my mom's home-going.  And so, I approach this Mothers' Day with a bit of loneliness and with a longing for more time.  I wish that there was more time to sit at the dining room table and talk over coffee.  I wish that there was more time for hugs and for stories.  My mom loved history and I wish that there was more time to stop and look at historic markers along the road.  I wish that my mom could share more of my life with me, and I with her.

I'm learning that my mom was not quite as perfect as I remember her.  My journey towards healing has revealed a darker side to my mom that I never knew--at least a side that I chose not to remember.  That's ok now.  Imperfections no longer scare me like they once did--we're all broken vessels healed by the grace of God.  My mom did a great many things right.  For starters, she loved me.  She modeled for me what it looks like to love and to share one's life for a greater good.  Much of my mom's life was spent in sacrificial service to the King--giving, suffering, and denying self....Heaven will be filled with friends who came understand the Gospel through my mom's loving imitation of Jesus.  My mom loved coffee and my mom loved me!  Someday...we'll have plenty of time...in the land of timeless eternity.

Missing My Mom Today...

My wife and I were out at Windsor's Main Park setting up our church's display for the Harvest Festival that is held in our community each year.  This weekend is always sentimenal to me because it was this time five years ago that my mother suffered a massive heart attack and went home to heaven.  Tina and I were in Galveston at the time preparing to take a cruise in celebration of twenty years of marriage.  My parents were crafters and made it their custom to be in Windsor for the Harvest Festival.  Each year they would set their booth up on the east side of Main Park and sell their sand-blasted scripture signs.  The Harvest Festival, the park, the activity, all remind me of how much I miss my mom.  Below is the obituary from her hometown newspaper, The Floyd County Heperion-Beacon.

MONA SAMPLES


Memorial services for Mona Samples, 69, of Helena, Montana were held Wednesday, September 7, 2005 at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Windsor, Colorado. Her son, David Samples, Pastor of the church, officiated. The body was cremated and a separate memorial service will be held in Helena, Montana. Arrangements were under the direction of Marks Funeral Service of Windsor, Colorado.

Mrs. Samples died Saturday, September 3, 2005 in Windsor, Colorado.

She was born October 23, 1935 in Floydada to the late Raymond and Blanche Ramsey Williams. She graduated Floydada High School and received her B.A. degree from the University of Wyoming. She married Ted Samples in Floydada January 26, 1953. She and Rev. Samples were Southern Baptist Missionaries for twenty years. She was a housewife, mother and artist. She was active in Baptist Women's work.

They also served as beloved pastor and wife of Grace Fellowship Church in Lockney. During this time both she and Rev. Samples also worked for MHMR in Plainview. After retiring, they owned and operated Christian Crafts in Lockney, where they designed and created sandblasted wooden signs. They also travelled the Craft Show circuit selling their signs and ministering to the others there. They moved to Montana and were living in Helena.

Mrs. Samples is survived by her husband, Ted Samples of Helena, Montana; two daughters, Sandra Evans of Seattle, Washington and Cynthia Stauffenberg of Helena; two sons, Mike Samples of Reno, Nevada and David Samples of Windsor, Colorado; nine grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and one sister, Carolyn Ramazani of Lubbock.