Abuela Amparo María.

There is a beautiful woman in my life and she is my mother. She is so extremely hard working and she herself is trying new things and learning new skills. A few years ago she learned something completely new to her, to make and decorate beautiful and delicious cakes. She has used this to supplement her and my dad's income. Their work ethic is truly impressive and their heart is to help all the people God puts in their path.

But it has been a story of doing the hard things for my mom, in so many ways. Where did she learn this valuable lesson from? I am sure a lot of it came from her mom, my Abuela Amparo María. My mom only had her mom for about 7 years... my abuela died when my mom was so young. And to be honest I do not know a lot about her. But one thing I have know for as long as I can remember... Abuela Amparo was a hard worker! She was the oldest of all daughters that my great-grandfather had (except the baby at the end was a boy) and so she had to go help him at work, and she worked as hard as a man. In fact, she was his best worker!

But the new thing I found out recently about her is that Abuela Amparo would sew the clothes my mom (youngest of 8) and her siblings would wear. Actually, she would reuse the older girl's clothes by taking a dress and turning it inside out and making a smaller dress for a younger daughter! With so many kids how often was she sewing? That is amazing to me. She may not have used that to supplement her family's income, but she certainly was serving her family.

There are generations of hard workers in my family! Thank You God for teaching me this important lesson. I too can do the hard things. I too can serve my family with skills!

Who in your family has been a great example of doing the hard things?

-Frannia