Mother's Day

The Many Hats of Mom

​When thinking about what to get our lovely mom for mothers day, we racked our brains and decided to write a blog for her! She is always asking us when we are going to write more for her, so what better way to honor her than to give her what she wants?

​A few years ago, we heard our mom speak on how people wear many different hats as Christians. She came out on stage with a box of hats. There were many kinds: construction, chef, baseball, etc. She was speaking to a group of women and beautifully illustrated the ways we juggle many different roles in life and how God uses all of them in so many ways. Over the years we have seen her wear more hats than anyone we’ve ever known. She not only our mother, she is a loving wife, an extremely talented teacher, a wonderful cook, a wise mentor, a loyal friend, a DIY extraordinaire (long before Pinterest ever existed), and has beautiful servants heart.

​Like many teenagers, Jeni and I both went through phases of thinking we knew better than our mom. We always came up with grandiose ideas and would run to her to ask her permission. One time we came up with the brilliant plan to scrape the popcorn off Jeni’s bedroom ceiling and paint a sky scene on it (there was also a giant garden mural painted on her bedroom walls too, both of which we later learned were not so cute), but our mom said, “if you want to do it, go for it.” Which meant she didn’t think it was a good idea, and wasn’t going to help us, but would let us try it out and see how it goes. We thought a sky ceiling was the coolest thing ever, and so did our friends, but looking back, spending hours scraping the ceilings, and inhaling what was probably asbestos, it was a waste of time and money, and of course, Mom knew all along it was a bad idea. The best part about her, is that she never said, “I told you so”, she just kept Jeni’s door shut when guests were over. She just let us run with our wild ideas, and I think that’s played a huge part in both of our creative sides. Jeni is now a Jr. High teacher, and I am perusing a career in hair and make-up.

​Our mom is such a loving wife to our dad, and that attributes to their almost 30 years of marriage. One thing that stands out to me is that I have never seen my parents fight. I have never heard my dad raise his voice at my mom and vice versa. Not to say that they don’t ever fight, but they always made it a point to keep it away from Jeni and I. Now, I know that my parents don’t have a perfect marriage, but they make it look very easy and have set a great example of what a loving partnership looks like. Jeni loves the fact that they are just that, partners. My mom doesn’t stand in front of or behind my dad, but right next to him. They always seem to be on the same page, have great communication, and make life choices together. I could never ask my dad something, he say no, and then I could run to my mom and get a yes out of her. She would stand firm, and ask, “what did your dad say?”, because they had already discussed it and agreed that we couldn't have friends over or stay out past curfew. My mom has been by my dad’s side for 30 years, and will be there forever, even when its hard.

​When Jeni and I were still in high school, I was a sophomore and Jeni was a senior, my mom lost her job and decided to go back to school to become a teacher. While it was a strain for our family during that year, she made a decision that was best for her and our family at the time. My mom has always been an amazing teacher, so making a career was a no-brainer. Although she has made a career for herself in teaching early English language learners in Michigan, she is a teacher in so many other ways. She loved to show Jeni and I new things that would help us in the future. She taught us how to cook. Growing up we would have a night of the week where each of us was responsible for cooking dinner. It was a win, win. We learned how to cook and Mom also got out of cooking that night. Jeni almost always wanted Mac and Cheese and hot dogs, but some how she would convince me to make it because “it tastes better when I made it”, I guess it taught Jeni the art of persuasion more so than cooking. From a very young age my mom was constantly trying to put make-up on me and Jen. She was and is still a great make-up artist and we loved getting dolled up! We were using eye cream from age 5, and learned all about how to keep our skin looking youthful, which is why we look 18 and 20 instead of 27 and 29! If you know my mom, you know she is a strong woman. She taught us to stand firm in our beliefs and that we can do anything we put our mind to. She always says, “Cobb women are strong,” and we are just that, because we had a great example of what that looks like. Last but not least, my mom taught us what it means to be a woman of God. She showed us how to be bold in our faith and to trust God with everything. My mom never hesitates to share Christ with anyone, she offers to pray for those in need and has such a servants heart. When God tells her to go, she goes, without hesitate. She follows God, and trusts His calling on her life.

​As we’ve grown older, our mom has become a close friend and wise mentor to both of us. She’s my first call when I need to sort out an issue and always has the best advice-which I still don’t listen to when I should-but of course, she was right. We love doing things with her that we would do with our friends: shopping, girls nights, laughing until we cry and talking about boys. Sometimes she feels like more of our older sister than our mom and people always think she’s our sister anyway! That great skincare regiment she taught us clearly works! Now we like to do all of the things she taught us with her. All three Cobb women in the kitchen is always a hoot, I constantly have new tips and tricks for hair and make-up, Jeni loves to find things on Pinterest for us to create together, and we also love spending time talking about God and how He is working in our lives. We have an inseparable bond and cherish the time we get to spend with one another. All this to say, our mom is the best mom on the planet and we love her more than anything (except for dad-we love him just as much! But we’ll save that for Fathers Day.)

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Mom- Thank you for being my support and encouragement. You have taught me how to be the woman I am today, how to love, to teach, to look pretty and to serve God. I love you and am so lucky to be your daughter. MUAH!!!   -Love Jeni

Mom, I love and appreciate you more than you will ever know! I am so proud to be so much like you! I can only hope that I will continue to grow into the strong, beautiful woman that you are! I wish I was there celebrating with you today! I love you! -Lissa