I decided to look up Mother in the dictionary…….
1.A female parent.
2.One’s female parent.
3.A mother- in-law,step mother,or adoptive mother.
4.A term of address for a female parent or woman having or regarded of having the status.,function,or authority of a female parent.
5.A term of familiar address for an old or elderly woman.
A MOTHER:
This is my story about a mother.
A mother who was nurturing, fun, loving, strict, full of wisdom and so much more.
I remember at 11yrs old meeting this mother for the first time at a church meeting.
I was almost 12 years old.
It was in April almost Easter. I will never forget it.
The first time I heard her sing it was so Angelic. Back in those days we had what was known as testimony service before the message would go forth. That was when each and every one that was in the church house had an opportunity to stand and testify of the greatness of what the Lord has done in their lives. This mother always thanked God for the small and big things. She had a very strong love for young people.
She had a husband and two sons whom she loved dearly and always spoke of them.
One of her sons she would bring to church with her.
The other was an adult and came from time to time.
This mother along with my birth mother and the mothers of the church along with our Pastor and Reverend Foster would gather up all of us children and pray for us. Then we had prayer services during the week when we went down on our knees and prayed for nothing less than an hour, sometimes hours. This mother made sure she hugged each and every one of us when we got up off our knees.
I thought that was so special.
It was something about those hugs that was drawing me to her. Momma and Poppa Foster named the church “Victory Temple”
A store front On the Van Wyck Expressway, a church with a whole lot of love.
With this mother that I’m talking about it was something real special about her, all the mothers was great, but it was something different about her. I somehow connected to her. Every chance I had I would sit next to her. I would some times fall asleep on her shoulder. She would gently touch my nose to wake me up and look at me and smile.
I remember at 12 years old something bad happened to me. I didn’t tell any one about what happened to me. The next service was a week service that I faithfully attend. I smiled as usual but she saw right through my smile that something was wrong. It was a Friday night we called Joy night for the young people.
That moment she put her finger up to excuse her self. That was something that church folks did out of respect to excuse them selves from walking where they was standing or sitting. She took me by the hand and led me to the small lounge. She gently put her hands on my cheeks with comfort and said ”dear child what happened to you”.
I said ”nothing happened”.
I felt damned be caused I just lied in Church. I thought I might go to hell for that Lol! She asked me again with such love and compassion and I said nothing. She then wrapped her arms around me and held me so close and tender to her bosom. I felt so safe and warm. She said ”Child, remember the name of this house is called ”VICTORY”. She said ”You live here so you must claim the victory!”
When she said that to me a release of tears came streaming down on to her pretty white flower print top. I remember like it happened yesterday. I didn’t understand it but I felt such power from her statement to me as she began to sing very gently and soft but strong’ Precious Memories take my hand.
She sang…….When your down in trouble you need some loving care, aint nothing going right close your eyes and meditate on him and soon he will be there, God can brighten up your darkest hours….That was just the first verse of what she sang Boy! Oh boy! Didn’t I need to hear that at that moment.
Just like a wise mother always knowing what is needed in the moment in an emergency when it comes to her motherly instincts As time passes this mother continues to show attention and love. For some reason this mother decides to pay me a lot more attention once this incident subsides. She asked my birth mother will it be okay if I spent more time with her. My birth mother said okay, after all I lived on 134th street and Liberty Avenue and she lived on 134th street right up the block.
That was one of the happiest days of my life being that I was the oldest daughter of my many siblings. That meant I was out of doing some work around the house but little did I realize I was getting the same amount of work at this mothers house.
I became part of this family in a special way.
I was the daughter she never had but always wanted, a mother to me indeed and a daughter to her for sure. As our relationship grew I started calling her Momma. She called me most of the time “Lady D” By the time I was 15, I was spending more and more time with her. She needed me and I needed her although she had a husband and two sons. They were busy doing there thing – boys being boys – while her hubby worked. I had my friends but found my self wanting to be around her more. We would often get together with our church family to hang out and have fun.
Momma and Daddy Foster every year would have a nice bus trip planned for us all .
Great adventure, Coney Island, the beaches – you name it, it was a good thing…….we were always in each other lives. By this time in our lives together I couldn’t make one move with out her knowing what I was thinking most of the time. If I had a certain look on my face she knew what it meant. If I smiled she knew what I was thinking and if I frowned she knew what I meant.
…….And more than like to remember I would often find my self sad as I began to mature into a young lady. I didn’t feel good about my self most of the time. As I matured It became more apparent due to the nature that caused this low self esteem issue that I battle.
When she found me in this particular mood she would embrace me, hug me sing to me. Speak words of faith and wisdom to me, she would pray over me and just shower me with unconditional love. She started teaching me about the mature part of life I needed to know, preparation for the real world.
She also knew I had a serious crush on one of her sons.
That gave her opportunity to talk to me in a more mature level by this time at 15, I realize I had grown up a lot. Dealing with things I didn’t think I could, and I began to feel real good about myself. I told her that I wanted to be Baptist and she asked me why and I gave her my answer and she was satisfied in knowing for almost a half a year I was living my life as a saved young lady. She supported me greatly during my baptism giving me much wisdom.
Before I turned 16 I preached my first sermon, John 3;16, she supported me all the way. She encouraged and inspired me to be all I could be in what God has for me. I had learn how to be a prayer warrior From Momma Foster and the woman I learned to call Momma taught me all about life, love, joy, peace and how to give receive – when to say no when you say yes.
How to carry my self and act like early this mother called me “Minister Lady D. She taught me to never forget where I came from and never be afraid to help. Her son that I had a serious crush on had some serious issues. At this time of his life me and this mother would pray and fast and some times cry out to God to save him from death.
One Friday night we shut in and had a weekend of fasting and praying for him for change he came walking through the door on a Sunday morning…….
I went into the kitchen to get a glass of water.
“He” was not in long enough to say hello before he went right back out the door.
Me and momma knew praying spirits were in the house.
That spirit in him could not take it.
That day Momma made me promise her something.
She made me promise that I would pray for him for the rest of my life. Momma let me know By his reaction he had a crush on me. She didn’t want him at that time to have nothing to do with me. She gave me more reason to pray for him. Even though his spirit was not like my spirit I knew It was more to him that you can see with the eyes.
Something deep within being covered up and controlled by a spirit He could never look me straight in the eye.
When I would be at my mothers house as he passed me several times a day As I spoke to him he could never look me in the eye. Others that sometime were around me he had no problems with momma continued to remind me to never stop praying for her Son every day.
We would both walk pass each other sometime with out much to say.
He would walk by TEN TIMES a day sometimes passing me and couldn’t look me in the eye.
At 16 Momma ask me what did I want as a gift for my next birthday turning 17. I said a small afghan to cover my chest to my lap, she asked me what colors I said all colors like the rainbow she said that that’s all, I said yes. Little did I know she started working on that afghan on the second day after my16th birthday.
On my 17th birthday she gave me the biggest most beautiful afghan with all the colors in a beautiful box that she hand crafted her self…I went to New York this pass February and came across the afghan she made for me as a gift when I was 17 and I brought it back to Florida with me.
Momma continued to remind me to every day pray for her son.
At 18 I left home and not long after married and lived in 4 countries in a 5 year period. I would call momma every week. We would have pray, laugh, talk ,sometimes cry tears of joy from the memories we shared. Every time I came back to the United States, I came back to see momma with a son that I adopted. The next time I birthed a son ,the next time I birthed another son. She would love them as though they were part of her DNA mean while still praying for her son I had a crush on as a young teen.
He was wilder than ever but I kept on praying and believing that change was coming.In my early twenties I lived in South Carolina. I came home to minister to a church that was holding a youth rally while I was home visiting Momma with the boys for a few hours before going back south.
She said her son had not come home she heard nothing from him in a few days, we began in prayer, she told me to lead in pray.
So I did…….after we finished prayer I put the boys in the car to head back south going to the airport, I called momma at the airport. She told me he walked in three hours later and went to sleep. That was unusual and I kept praying for him as Momma asked.
One of the most devastating things happened in my life.My then husband walked out on me leaving me with three sons to raise alone.So hurt and discouraged of all I was taught and learned.
Reality smacked me in the face.
All along she was there for me with encouraging words of wisdom.
When friends and all else turned their backs on me. She never gave up on me. I began to trust God with full force. I held onto God’s promises for my life in spite of. I needed some assurance in hearing her words of wisdom. I still held onto Gods. I had such a great love for Momma and the family.
I kept on praying for every one in the family and a little more for the son she asked me to never stop praying for. She had told me years prayer that I will go through some stuff that will make me stronger, I didn’t understand at the time like I learned later in life seem like year after year her son became worst and worst.
I never stopped praying in spite of.
I began to have a greater love and compassion for her son.
The kind of love that never gives up on some one in spite of what it looks like.
He caused me to be a warrior that I never knew I was. Because of him, It kept me on my knees and face before the Lord. More than ever before. Every time he saw me although he had a crush on me as a young teen, He began to feel uncomfortable whenever he passed me.
The spirits that was living in side of him did not like me at all but yet his heart knew the truth and grew to love. Today he is delivered from those spirits that had been attacking him most of his life.
We have gained a special relationship, and prayer still goes on today and this time he prays himself.
The Moral of this story is about one mothers love for her family and a young girl she added to her family.
The daughter that she longed for and a mother that I needed. She made time for me to nurture into a beautiful young lady. A mother who used her wisdom, and was a Proverbs 31 woman in my life. She never gave up on me and that taught me to never give up. Through her love for me, it taught me how to take love to another level.
A mother who taught me all about wisdom, knowledge and understanding. A mother that gave a lot of attention to her family. A loving mother.
A praying mother.
The kind of mother that gave you every thing you needed at the point and time of need to the best of her ability.
By the way, the Mother that became my Mother is the same mother I shared with “Lance Scurvin.”
Today we carry a deep love for each other due to the special relationship we carried through out the years. The love of never giving up. It took almost 37 years of prayer to see change that is at a continual rate………
Momma has gone home with the Father since 1994 and I miss her dearly. She was appointed by God to be a part of my life.
She helped me to be the strong woman that I am today. If she were here I would tell her how much I love her and that her Legacy lives with in her children.
I will always remember Momma in a special way.
