Selfless love...

They say that behind every great man is a great woman. I have no clue who "they" are, but I don't believe them one bit. Why you might ask? Well because in my life that statement couldn't be farther from the truth. The truth is...BESIDE this great man is a great woman.

My mom is an amazing woman. She has no greater cheerleader than my father. They are equals and walk side by side, holding hands! Daddy toots Mama's horn all the time. I remember singing her praises one day and my dad piped in. He asked if I knew the secret to my mom's success. Not sure what he meant I looked a bit baffled. He continued, "you know the secret to her success is that she has never been afraid to try."

My mom knows everything. We've called her Macgyver for years because she can fix anything with two toothpicks and a piece of gum, but as I listened to her explain all these intricate details about Eleanor Roosevelt's life to Taylor I came up with the nickname Encyclo-VICKY-a. She really does know everything and all because she wasn't afraid to try.

As a preteen I realized one night at a slumber party that not every girl could talk to their mom they way I could talk with my mom. Ever since I knew I was special. I knew I had been blessed with not only a wonderful mother, but someone who I would someday call my friend.

So yesterday in honor of Mother's Day I wasn't afraid to try something new. I started a project that she has been encouraging me to do since we first moved into our home last summer. I'll never forget walking through the aisles of a home improvement store. I wasn't sure why Mama wanted me to stain the deck and then she said, "It really won't be that hard. It might take a couple of days, but when you finish you will really enjoy using the deck more."

That is my mom! Not only is she not afraid to try new things, she isn't afraid of hard work either. She makes the energizer bunny look like a lazy bum.

Why does she do the things she does? Someone who doesn't know my mom very well would probably look in and think that she does it for herself, all because she enjoys it. But for those of us who truly know Mama, we know the truth. She does what she does because she loves us. Everything she does is done out of a selfless love for others. She lives life so that we can experience joy.