I learned so much from my mom, Esther DeSerio, but looking back, I think three things brought me closer to God.
- Mom taught me to love and appreciate God’s creation.
Mom was a gardener and so is our Heavenly Father. He created the beautiful Garden of Eden. Mom looked forward to planting her vegetable garden in the late spring, and we enjoyed eating the fresh veggies all summer. She also loved flowers – roses were her favorite – Morning Glories climbed the trellis beside our house, and bouquets from her bountiful row of peonies decorated the stage for my piano recitals.
Mom was a bird lover. I can still hear her exclaim when the first robin sang in spring’s twilight, “Oh, you beautiful bird!” Her bird feeder was frequented by wild birds who would even eat out of her hand.
She helped me see that nature draws us to the One who created it for us to enjoy. We see God’s love of color in the vast variety of flowers; we hear His praises proclaimed in the song of birds; we see His signs of hope and rebirth in the budding trees. All this Mom loved to absorb in the quiet moments of setting sun. Her most quoted verse was, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
2. My mother taught me about worship through music. My parents were not wealthy and we moved several times when Dad changed jobs. But wherever we lived, she always made sure I had a piano & piano lessons, beginning at age five.
As a pastor’s wife, Mom was the designated church accompanist when Dad pastored a small pioneer church. Her support of my continued lessons paid, off as I also filled in on piano at church beginning in fifth grade.
One special memory I have of mom, though, was at home, at bedtime, after we were tucked in and prayers said. From our bedrooms, we could hear mom downstairs playing and singing at the piano. She often chose quiet meditative hymns of love and devotion to God. I can still hear how she would linger on chosen notes, reflecting sincere worship and heartfelt gratitude to God. Perhaps that was my early training to find my own way of “praying” with my fingers as I played quiet music for prayer.
3. My mom also taught me to love and respect God’s word. In my early years, Mom was part of the Child Evangelism Fellowship movement teaching Bible stories to neighborhood children. On Saturday mornings, our dining-room was filled with friends who sat mesmerized by Mom’s handmade Bible figures on a flannelgraph board. When Mom sang the salvation song from the “wordless book” of colors, God touched children’s hearts. One girl from our neighborhood, Jill, who later traveled internationally as an intercessor, wrote in the first of her three books how she accepted Jesus as her Savior in the home of the DeSerios at one of these classes that my Mom taught!
When I was still in grade school, we had a tradition of family devotions right after supper. Mom had a little box of tiny Scripture cards on the table. We delighted in taking our turn to pull a verse from that “treasure box” and learning it together. Dad would pray, and then it was time to do dishes.
Mom read her Bible every morning in her rocking chair by the window. Looking back through our family photo album, one of my favorites is of her is reading her Bible. I still have her red Bible. In it, I have found the names of her children written beside a particular verse, verses which I’m sure she must have prayed for us. There was one with my brother Mark’s name by it that said, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help. My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1).
Maybe this is why I now have my favorite chair, by the window, where I sit first thing each morning, with my Bible in my lap. I look out the window at God’s creation, listening to the sweet birdsong sent to me by my heavenly Father, and I mark names in my Bible, just as my Mom did, praying for my family, and more. And I thank God for a mom who taught me to love nature, love music, and to love God’s word.