Tuesday's Tribute - Literary Inspirations

For today's tribute I'd like to point to my English and literature teachers both in high school and college. These people instilled in me a love of the written word that will last a lifetime.

Teachers don't always get the respect they deserve. One teacher in particular, Mrs. McKeever, was one of my favorites. She taught composition classes at our high school and I thought she was terrific. Most of the other kids didn't.

The reason Mrs. McKeever wasn't so well loved was because she thought students shouldn't just "get by." She made us WORK. When we made mistakes, she was bold enough to tell us we did. Why? Because she CARED!

I'll never forget asking this great lady, "Did I do good on my test?"

She said, "Well."

I asked, "Did I do good on my test?"

She repeated, "Well."

I think we went through these same lines six or eight times before it sunk in.

"Did I do well on my test?"

"Yes, very well."

If you'd like to participate in Tuesday's Tribute, visit Halftime Lessons to add your link!

Tuesday's Tribute - Suffering without Complaining

I know a woman who suffered physical pain for years and years with little complaint.She is an inspiration to me when I am tempted to whine about something a little more insignificant than her pain.

The women above are my paternal grandmother (left) and my mom (right). My mom lived with her mother and father-in-law for nearly a year after marrying my dad. Even then, she lived in basically the same house because she and Dad lived in the back half of an old farmhouse while Grandma and Grandpa lived in the other half.

Not sure I could do that, especially live with my in-laws while my husband finished serving in the Navy. To top things off, Mom and Dad were married for two weeks, Dad shipped off and left Mom with Grandma and Grandpa (in Indiana away from her native Massachusetts) for that year, and Mom found out she was pregnant with Susan. Wow.

They finally moved to their own house when I was a year old and live there still. Sometime when I was a teenager, Mom acquired a small hernia that she lived with and didn't complain about. It would cost money to fix it and then there was her fear of surgery too.

Nearly thirty years later, Mom was still living with the hernia and none of us had a clue as to the pain she went through daily. She was sick a lot in the last few years and we all thought she had the flu or ate something that didn't agree with her.

Then she strangulated this November. She nearly died. She had the surgery she should have had many years ago but this time it was an emergency situation and very risky. We all prayed and supported her while she lay in pain.

Mom lived through the surgery and spent almost a month in the hospital and another in a nursing facility. She's home now and taking physical therapy, doing exercises and getting stronger.

My mom is an inspiration to me because I don't remember hearing her complain about her pain. She just took it and went on.

I'm not saying I'd refuse to have surgery when I needed it, but I'd love to have the resolve to take my pain to Jesus more and stop taking it to others so much.

To read other Tuesday Tributes, visit here.