Book Club Thursday | Mama Made the Difference

Mamas Teach Us That It Is Never Too Late

We are reading through the book Mama Made the Difference by T.D. Jakes. All direct quotes taken from the book are in bold type.

Do you have dreams that are unfulfilled?  Do have goals that you still want to reach?  Then, now is the time to reach for those dreams, to follow through with your goals.  It doesn't matter how old you are, it doesn't matter how old (or young) your children are.  You will be teaching them that it is never too late to reach for your dreams, to accomplish those achievements that you have always wanted to achieve, to scratch that goal off your list.

This chapter was mainly dedicated to T.D. Jakes grandmother who worked her whole life to earn enough money to go to college.  When she was in her late forties she finally had earned enough and contacted a collge. She graduated at 50 and became a teacher until she reached retirement age.

Although my mother homeschooled us and taught us how to read before we were even close to being school aged, she did not have a teaching degree, let alone a degree of any kind.  However, because she began homeschooling when people were very naive about the idea (although most families in early America homeschooled their children), one of the most frequently asked questions she received was, "Do you have your degree?"  Let's face it, a degree does not qualify someone to teach- a God given ability does.

However, in order to not have to face that question for the rest of her life, she began studying through Moody Bible Institute's correspondence school and earned her degree in Biblical counseling (another of her many gifts). Although she was a stay at home wife and mother, a pastor's wife, a woman's Bible study teacher, in charge of the Project Angel Tree ministry at our church, homeschooling her daughters, and helping my father when he had to give counseling sessions, she would find time in the evenings to read her course books and to take her tests.  Finally, she graduated, and we watched with pride as she walked the aisle in her cap and gown. 

I have many goals and dreams, and thinking of my mother and her refusal to give up, her willingness to stay up late, her willingness to work harder than most to achieve her dreams and goals is a constant inspiration to me that it is never too late.

.....and it isn't too late for you either.