My mother was Betty Carter Price.  She was a war bride who met my dad in London during WWII and soon fell in love and they were married.  Mom's job was to watch the radar screen for approaching Nazi bombers.  She said that during a bombing raid the pavement would become so hot that it would become like black butter.  She would often recall the fright of living through those terrible bombing raids.

    Dad brought mom to America after the war and she only returned to England a few times before her death.  Leaving her family in England was one of the toughest things mom ever had to do, but she did it out of love for her new family.  Mom was the most sacrificial person I ever knew.  She always put the wellbeing of her family ahead of her own.  She would do without so that her family could have their needs and sometimes their wants met.  I can remember mom getting up early in the morning at our old house on Church Street in Lynchburg, VA to start the coal stove so her kids wouldn't have to get up in a cold house.

    Mom's greatest impact on me was spiritual.  When she became a follower of Christ, she followed with all of her heart.  As a teen I couldn't understand her faith.  But that didn't deter her. She would pray for me constantly and I can still remember her kneeling in prayer for me beside her bed in that small apartment on Church Street.  I honestly don't think I would be in ministry today if it had not been for the spiritual influence of my mother.

    One of my mom's favorite stories was about an airplane trip from England on a prop plane when I was just a small baby.  She said one of the engines flamed out and the plane had to fly in on three engines instead of four.  She would always smile and like any mother say, " I knew God had something special for you because He brought you safely to shore."

    That was mom, always encouraging, always praying and always giving.  Thanks mom you changed my life.  A mom can really make a difference.