My mother is ninety-one years old and still lives in her own home. After raising four children, she continues to have an impact on the lives of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She is amazing to say the least.

As I was raising my three children, I often thought about how much things change from one generation to the next. Even though we were both stay-at-home moms, our lives were very different. And though our life-styles were different, what we believed and valued were very much the same. These thoughts turned into a poem that I wrote in a journal years ago.

My Mother and I 

My mother kneaded homemade bread.
I buy mine at the store.
My mother hung the laundry out.
I close my dryer door.
My mother scrubbed the vegetables
she grew and picked herself.
But mine come in a frozen bag
or can from off the shelf.

My mother got her hair done
every week at a salon.
But all I need to do
is turn my curling iron on.
My mother wore a housedress
and her stockings every day.
I wear my jeans and tennis shoes
as I go on my way.

But though the times keep changing
and the styles come and go,
the life my mother lived
is now the life I’ve come to know.
My mother read her Bible
and she prayed to God each day.
Like her, I also read God’s Word
and often pause to pray.

My mother helped the neighbors
and cared for those in need.
I know I’m walking in her shoes
when I do a thoughtful deed.
My mother’s faithful service
to her friends and family,
provided an example
of the way things ought to be.

And even though old-fashioned ways
to me seem rather strange,
the things that really matter
are the things that never change.

Crystal Bowman

Poem is taken from Meditations for Moms, by Crystal Bowman, published by Baker Publishing Group 2001.