Matthew Costner

The past few weeks have been crazy for me. I bought a condo and have been painting and fixing it up for some time now. It’s not finished, but it’s livable. Truthfully, it’s in far better shape than it would have been if I had worked on it on my own. You see, my mom Patsy, came to help me.

Now my mom is retired, but she works all the time. Not only does she help my dad with his ministry, but she is constantly helping the rest of the family with getting stuff done. She has her own hobbies of course, but she is so quick to drop what she is doing to go help those in need.

Not that my mom is Jesus or even close to being Jesus, but she has a heart for those in need. At times that heart can seem to be too big (she stayed a really long time), but amidst the hard work and little play I can’t question her heart for me. If anything, she loves me and loves me sacrificially.

The first three days were great, but to be completely honest with you, the rest of the time we began getting on each other’s nerves. I wanted to have fun and do everything that I had always done in the afternoon, yet work had to be done.

I wonder if Jesus ever felt like He just wanted to have fun and not work. Sure He seems to have had fun with the disciples, but everywhere He went He continued to meet the needs of the people. In Mark 5:21-24, as soon as Jesus got off the cruise ship, a man came to him just as Jesus got on the shore and asked Him to go home with him and heal his daughter. Jesus’ reply? Well, we don’t know exactly, but He began walking to Jairus’ home to heal the girl.

I don’t like the old cliché “What Would Jesus Do?” (WWJD), but I have to constantly ask myself of what God’s intention is for me to do. In reality, my first reaction is hardly ever for me to sacrifice my time for another. Ok, never. But the truth is, in some miraculous strange way I feel so much better about myself when I do.

Although I’m glad those last two weeks are over, I have realized a valuable lesson. Sure, I learned that my mom loves me sacrificially, but the most valuable lesson was this: we can’t make it without each other. I don’t know where I would be with everything in my life right now if I would have had to do it all on my own. I would have gotten some things done, but I wouldn’t have gotten nearly as far without the help of my mom.

Many of you wouldn’t have gotten nearly as far as you are now without the help of someone too. Maybe not your mom, but someone took a chance on you whether you like it or not. If you haven’t told them thank you yet, I urge you to do so. I’m not good at saying thanks, but mom, if you read this, thanks for everything. I sure couldn’t have gotten it done without you.