Mom Memories, Part IV

We are standing in a room folding sheets together, holding carefully to each corner. Some of my favorite times with my mom were the days we spent at the campground cleaning Shepherd Hall in preparation for camp. She taught me how to fold a sheet perfectly, even a fitted sheet, how to organize a storage room, how to sweep, dust and clean sinks, toilets and showers. But most importantly, she instilled in me the joy in doing these services for people who would never realize you did it for them. She taught me to have pride in a job well done, especially in a job done for someone else. (Somehow cleaning my own room was never as fun as cleaning a dirty bathroom in a dorm. It’s still that way today.) Proverbs 12:14 says, “From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good, and the work of a man’s hand comes back to him.” There is no greater joy than serving others.