Yesterday was Mother\u2019s Day.\u00a0\u00a0I had an earthly mother for fifty-five years. She has now been in heaven for twenty-seven years.\u00a0\u00a0She was a survivor of tuberculosis when most who had it died with it. Called to be a medical missionary, she earned her Registered Nurse degree and studied at Southwestern Baptist Seminary as the Seminary Nurse. That\u2019s where she met my Dad and found her identify as \u201cMrs. Preacher.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0While she never became a global missionary, God brought the world to her in the form of international students.\u00a0\u00a0I remember going home from college for a weekend and finding multiple languages being spoken in my living room.\u00a0\u00a0Prayer-warrior extraordinaire, if you googled \u201cSpiritual Gift of Intercession\u201d you might see a picture of my Mom. We jokingly said that she had God on speed-dial.\u00a0\u00a0She was a perfectionist married to a workaholic.\u00a0\u00a0That combination produced me – a workaholic perfectionist – and as hard as that has been, I wouldn\u2019t trade with anyone else. \u201cMy child, listen when your father corrects you.\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t neglect your mother\u2019s instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honor around your neck\u201d (Proverbs 1:8-9, NLT).<\/p>\n
Dr. Dan R. Crawford, Senior Professor, Chair of Prayer Emeritus; Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas. Former Head of Task Force for the Teaching of Prayer in Theological Education for America\u2019s National Prayer Committee.\u00a0 Administrative Consultant for the Valley Baptist Missions Education Center.<\/p>\n