Mother's Gift

By John Cranford

This book is a tribute to my Mother and her little book of devotionals she gifted to me.  She died when I was a thirteen-year-old boy, the youngest of six children.  She was a first-grade schoolteacher for twenty years until her sudden and untimely death.  She raised me and my brothers and sisters as a single parent.  She made tremendous personal sacrifices for us and struggled mightily during her adult life.

 

We may have been considered poor when measured by material wealth, but we were rich beyond belief when considering everything that truly counts in life. Mother was larger than life. She was overflowing with love, not just for us but everyone.  She was kind, she had a gentle spirit. She always appeared happy even during the times it now seems impossible that she could have been.  She was selfless and generous to a fault.  She always gave more than she had—even when she didn't have anything to give.  She gave of herself.  She never took.  She never applied for welfare, although I'm sure we qualified, and she never accepted charity from anyone—not even the church.

 

Mother had a strong commitment to Christ and she passed her spiritual beliefs down to us.  She instilled her God-given qualities and values in us, and she blessed and enriched our lives.  She exemplified the marvel of God's grace through the common stuff of ordinary life.  She is truly a Saint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Cranford
• Release date: Mar 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781792364730

John Cranford

John Cranford is a retired Federal and State Bank Regulator. His career spanned over 40 years; first with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and then with the Alabama State Banking Dept. He also served in the U.S. Army as a Combat Engineer in Vietnam.  He currently lives with his wife Dot in Lawrenceville, GA.  He has three grown sons, four grandsons and one granddaughter, all of whom live in the Atlanta area.

Book preview

MOTHER’S GIFT

Copyright © 2021 John W. Cranford.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review

Certain Scripture quotes taken from The John MacArthur Study Bible (ESV). Used by permission.

ISBN 978-1-7923-6473-0 (ebook)

ISBN 978-1-7923-6290-3 (paperback)

First printing, 2021.

John W, Cranford

3385 Townley Place.

Lawrenceville, Georgia 30044

Mary Evelyn Cranford

Born:  January 24, 1908

Died:  January 24, 1959

To:

Mother

Who shaped and enriched my life

and

Dot

Who put up with me all these years

and

Grady

for Crandaddy’s broken foot which contributed to the birth of this book

MOTHER’S GIFT TO ME

It’s just a small book—a daily devotional entitled Daily Strengths For Daily Needs.  It’s the only thing I got of my Mother’s when she died.  It has gotten plenty of use over the years—and it shows it.

A close up of a piece of paper Description automatically generated

THE COVER HAS A WASHED-out green color and it’s ragged due to age and overuse.  The title is faded and barely readable; the binding is broken and has come unglued; its pages now a dull yellow and loosely held together.  In other words, it’s in perfect condition!  I would fight you to the death if you tried to repair it.

The inscription on the first page reads: Evelyn Rogers (my Mother), March 4, 1926, from ‘Mother’ (my Grandmother).  It was first published in 1884.

There are numerous extraneous little items stored in this beloved little book.  There are various newspaper clippings (when gasoline was 19 cents a gallon); obituary notices of relatives I never met; cards from friends and love-ones; an entry form to a literary contest; and a copy of the following poem, which should give you a little insight into who my Mother was and where she placed her values.

To understand the priceless nature of this little book, you have to know a little more about my Mother.

MOTHER’S LIFE

She was a Saint—but , then again, what mother isn’t?  She was my Rock and my Whole World.  I remember as a small boy thinking that if something happened to Mother, I wouldn’t want to live.  I poked a frog once with a stick and it hopped away bleeding.  My brother told me that if you killed a frog your mother would die.  I searched for that frog for days, steeped in guilt, thinking I had signed Mother’s death warrant.

Our family was not rich.  Mother grew up in the small rural community of Dry Branch, Georgia, which is appropriately located in Twiggs County, about twenty miles south of Macon.  To this day, Twiggs County is the only county in Georgia without a traffic light.

I DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT Mother’s childhood, but I do know she was driven. She was the only one in our family to graduate from college until she instilled that drive in me.  She became a first-grade schoolteacher.  She dearly loved her profession for every one of the twenty years she spent affecting those little lives until her sudden and untimely death.  I think she found solace in her teaching since she struggled greatly in her personal life.

I’m the sixth of six children (four brothers and two sisters). I don’t remember our father ever living with us.  He was an alcoholic and he and Mother separated when I was very young, before my memory kicked in.  He never supported us financially (or fatherly).

He never celebrated my birthday, and he never gave me a birthday or Christmas present. I remember him as this man who would come to our house on occasion and sit with Mother on the front porch swing.  As they visited, I would play on his truck and pretend I was driving.  Actually, I liked to see him come and I held no animosity toward him.

Mother showed me her stern side once when my father pulled up in the yard and said, Hop in; we’ll go for a ride.  I did and when we returned, Mother was waiting for us.  She didn’t say anything to me while daddy was there; but boy when he left, she made it very clear I was to never get in his truck alone and go with him anywhere!  After that, I never did.

I hear stories that there was a good side to my father.  At one time he was in the construction business.  He could build anything and was well respected. However, it got to a point when he would disappear for weeks on end and only reappear when he sobered up.  I think Mother finally just lost all hope and faith in their marriage.

His later years were spent selling peaches out of the back of his truck and filing saws for different individuals.  When he wasn’t drinking, he was very personable and had a great sense of humor.  He was also a good salesman—he could sell ice to an Eskimo.    

Mother took care of us children, my grandmother and, at times, two uncles

Reviews for Mother's Gift

[John Cranford · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Must read.
A short book with a very powerful message radiating from the life of a loving mother.

SYNOPSIS
This little book is all about an extraordinary gift from God in the form of a person - my Mother. Although I was just a boy when she died, she left an indelible imprint of love and joy on my life that will last forever. She exemplified the marvel of God’s grace through the common stuff of ordinary life. Despite her brief stay on this earth, she truly was God's broken bread and wine as she poured her life out for others. "Mother's Gift" is her story.

Mother’s Gift by John Cranford is a wonderful book that’s so inspiring you’d wish you could also write one for your mother! Yes, it’s a brief book. But it’s a short book with a very powerful message, a message of love.

The author has successfully depicted the kind of mother he has and the kind of love his mother possessed. It was a love that has changed lives and that has left a lasting legacy not only fo
r her children but for those whose lives she has touched. Being a teacher, she has even reached children other than her own and taught them values that would guide them for life.

This book teaches us that we don’t have to be rich or powerful in order to make a lasting influence on other people’s lives. We can live very simple lives and still create an unforgettable impact on other people, one that they would treasure all the days of their lives.

I love the style of the author in writing this book. It’s very personal, sincere and heart-warming. It just flows, and it takes you to those precious moments he treasures in his heart. I really felt his love, respect and appreciation for his mother. And I understood his desire to pass on the legacy his mother has left him.

This book has two parts. The first part takes the reader to his family life. It begins with memories of his childhood and his mother. It’s like a portal being opened to show the reader what it’s like to live as a child in the author’s life. The second part consists of excerpts from the book “Daily Strength for Daily Needs”, a book that has been treasured by the author’s mother and that has been passed on to him. This second part takes the reader to the most treasured quotes by the author’s mother, quotes that contain lessons applied to a life well-lived in love.

A book doesn’t have to be long in order to be effective. But it has to be full of value. It has to contain a message that can change lives in a good way. I think this is such a book, a book I can highly recommend. May we all learn the little nuggets of truth and wisdom we could also use in order to live inspiring and meaningful lives.

REVIEWED BY

Jocelyn Soriano