Carol: How was your Mum’s childhood? Similar? Now passing her “lovelies” on to you and your siblings?
Karyn: Was her life easy? Not really! As the wife of a Naval Commander she was uprooted every other year to another part of the country with three little girls. I remember her being of “good cheer” whenever I would start a new school (every other year). I would cry to leave her side, but she always reminded me that she would see me “Soon!”
Carol: and your Dad Karyn, may I ask?
Karyn: My father blessed my life, through his work in the Navy, with a stay-at-home, nurturing mother. Our home was clean and organized. There was always the scent of fresh baked bread on the table with soft butter, homemade jam and ice cold milk waiting for us every Thursday; her bread baking day.
As I would enter our home after school, whenever she heard the front door open, I would hear her voice almost singing from whatever room she was in, “Hi honey! I’m upstairs sewing! There’s homemade bread waiting for you!”
Though she was busy teaching Lamaze classes, Calligraphy classes, sewing some new school dress, reading some new book about health, or juicing carrot-celery-apple juice every evening, she never came out of character. Hers was the absolute gift of a merry heart!
Carol: so it seems …
Karyn: I only remember seeing my mother cry once. True, I am sure she shed her tears on other occasions, but even then, she taught me how to offer God her broken heart in times of grieving.
Carol: did you ever write a song specifically for your Mom Karyn?
Karyn: I wrote a poem for my mother once that shares her strength of will and courage, not disguised by the façade of a false persona of appeasing or seeming “happiness”. My mother’s gift of a “merry heart” was fueled by her faith in God. She taught her daughters all how to pray in the winter times of our lives too. She taught us that faith in God in times mourning would keep our hearts glowing and vibrant even when all seems lost.
My mother is one of those precious, beautiful souls that you will never see standing in the limelight. She will not be on the world’s top noted motivational speaker list, as her spirit is gentle, calming and tender. But her faith in God has always been strong enough to move mountains of my own heartache when I turned to her for wisdom and counsel (and a good laugh) in my own times of mourning.
Carol: what a special and blessed relationship you have had and have and how beautifully you speak of her.
Karyn: My mother’s gift of a merry heart, truly follows the spirit which says, “A Merry Heart doeth good like medicine.” There is nothing like the gift of a mother’s merry, cheerful, buoyant heart when her child is struggling with sorrow, pain or grief.
Carol: how I so agree and can relate.
Karyn: The gift of my mother’s merry heart has brought into my life, the voice of praise, the song of celebration, the hint of laughter and mirth even in troubled times. She has always been there behind the scenes in my mind as a true, stalwart, valiant soul whose award-winning faith in God, her love for her family and her devoted nature to all that she believes in is truly “adorned with a gentle and meek spirit” as the New Testament suggests.
Carol: Curious. So, did you want to share these experiences of a “merry heart” because of giving thanks to your Mom and all that she inspired and all that has in turn occurred and is progressing in your life today?
Karyn: Why do I share all this about my mother at Thanksgiving time? Perhaps, because I believe that true praise and rejoicing is like a stream of living water that comes from the heart’s font, wherein there is a true source of divine merriment. The essence of a merry heart is the gift that comes from living a goodly life. It is not a gift that depends upon the choices of others. My mother has suffered the heartache of divorce. She is a Marriage, Family Therapist. But, when she hears of pain, sorrow and grief in the world, or when one of her children’s or grandchildren’s lives is in conflict, she softly nods and solemnly assures, “I will keep you in my prayers. I will be praying for you.”
The gift of a merry heart is the gift that I hope to pass on to my own children. I hope that my children will remember me laughing, as I remember my own mother. I hope that they will remember me praying in the winter times of my life and theirs, as I remember my mother teaching me to do.
I hope that at thanksgiving time we can all remember at least one soul, if not our very own mother, then perhaps, another such ministering angel, who God has graced us with —- to minister to us with the gift of a merry heart.
Carol: I certainly remember….
Karyn: I thank the Lord that for me, it was my own earthly mother. Because I understand that it is not so for every little child, or every full-grown adult, I am striving to pass on the legacy of my mother’s love and the gift of her merry heart; especially to those who find themselves grieving during the holidays. The legacy I wish to spread is a legacy of love, joy and peace —- not only for my children and grandchildren, but for you and for yours.
