Our Moms! Our Moms Rock!! Both of them are amazing servants...I know few people like them. Without complaint, with much joy, they serve and serve and serve. They daily give their lives away. Both of them have very different lives - Mom (Steve's mom) takes care of her home and dad and Amy and daily lays down her life to care for Grandma. For years and years she has cared for her husband, her children and all the elderly people that have ended up at their house! Mama, being single, uses her time to constantly be serving other people...whether it is taking turns watching her grandchildren, taking meals to people, serving at the church, befriending ladies in the church, taking ladies shopping, oh the list could go on and on! Both of our moms are continually pursuing the Lord and what He has for their lives. At a time in both of their lives where they could become self-focused, they are both pursing growth and the fruit is so evident. Thank you, moms, for how you love us and love the Lord! At our annual Ladies Retreat both of our moms were honored! It was so much fun to see them being blessed by their friends!!! Here's what their friends had to say about them!!

About Mom from Debi Walter...
Ann has been my friend for over 20 years, and she has always been there to ask me the hard questions. She listens to the Lord and seeks to pursue me when she senses His leading regarding a specific issue. As we have grown in our understanding of Biblical Fellowship, she has been right there growing and challenging me. I am grateful to watch her life because just observing her is a lesson in unselfishness and genuine love. Her humility takes a back seat when I would desire to be front and center. I have learned more from her lifestyle than her words. She lives Biblical Truth, and when she falls short she pursues the input of others, including myself. How I pray that she will be blessed by winning this contest because she is so wrapped up in serving her mom right now that she could use some pampering time to herself. What a gift from God our friendship is.

About Mom from Alisha Townsend...
Ann Roberts contribution to my life and my perspective on life is unlike anyone one person I have ever met. I was given the privilege of meeting with Ann bi monthly and then monthly for a year and a half. I am honored and amazed at the time that she and Jim put into our family! She taught me how to love my husband the way God would have me love him. She taught me in the "you can call me anytime with any question" way. She fielded personal questions about every situation we faced, and always gave me an amazing Biblical answer. Sometimes it took me months to wrap my brain around the answers, but they have changed the way I live. If you ask my husband, her greatest contribution was helping me learn to iron, and committing to complete the ironing each week, which is my husband's "one thing" he would like me to do. (Oh, and much to my husband's delight, Ann irons our clothes when we are in the hospital.) However, she has also taught me things like encouragement and gratitude towards my husband. It was always clear that Ann's goal was to help me grow in my faith and become the person God wanted me to be. She is a shining example of a Titus two woman and I am honored to be the recipient of her mentoring.

(They gave Mom a spa day for her and one of her friends!!)

About Mama from Nancy Soucy (or Mimi as us Roberts girls like to call her!)
Betty Vallery has a servant's heart, and her tireless energy is a gift from above! Twenty plus years ago, Betty was diagnosed with cancer that had metastasized to her bones. She endured a long series of Chemotherapy treatments. She said she used to visualize Jesus walking thru her body healing her, as it was administered. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope". She WAS healed, and I am SOOO glad that I was in her future! I first met my friend, Betty, about 1997, at a TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meeting. When Betty came in I noticed her right away...we were the only ones there that weren't in their 70s or 80s!! The next Sunday was the first day I visited Metro Life Church. When I walked in and saw Betty, we recognized each other immediately. We both began attending the church regularly, she from a Catholic background, and I from a Baptist background. What we found at Metro was totally new to both of us. One day in particular, we met at my home, and spent hours getting to know one another. One of the things we began to ask, was: WHY does this church keep talking so much about SIN? We BOTH felt "pretty good" about ourselves back then. We also admitted that "praying out loud" was not very comfortable, and we saw it done over and over again in Home Groups. So, we began doing it with each other. Now, when a concern is expressed, she is the first to say, "Let's stop and pray about it!" Our "circle of friendship" was completed a couple of years later, with Sheryl Schmatjen. We began meeting for accountability, and Sheryl would confess what seemed to us such "little sins"! We finally began to understand the reality of our sinful nature. None of us have ever enjoyed the fullness of a Biblical friendship before. There is nothing like it. John 15:12-13 says "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends". Betty has laid down her life for both Sheryl and I in so many ways. She cooks, she serves, she cleans, she hosts gatherings, and she chauffeurs us where we need to go. An even bigger example of "laying down her life", is that she turns over her house to my daughter and her family when they visit from out of state! Betty was also a treasured friend to my husband, Jacques. She was by my side the last hours of his life, and was a "servant" throughout the many hours of visits from family and friends the week of his memorial. My grandchildren have worried about me being at the table, eating by myself, or getting lonely, but find that when they call, "Aunt Betty" is there for a meal, or I am "out" somewhere with her. There is no doubt, that one day she will hear our Lord say :"Well done, good and faithful servant!"

About Mama from Eileen Harmon:
Betty Vallery personifies a compelling example of love and care for others. She befriended myself & husband when we first came to Florida, five and a half years ago. Her love & outreach to me after the death of my husband has truly helped me through a very challenging time. She is a ministering angel with skin on!! She is truly going to hear our Lord say to her one day “enter into my kingdom my faithful servant in whom I am well pleased.” May God bless Betty for her wonderful, uncomplaining servant’s heart.

(They gave Mama a gift certificate to go shopping...and I'm so proud of her! She actually spent it on herself!!)