Melissa and Brenda Mashburn and Kathy Troccoli at a “Women of Faith” conference
In the spirit of Mother’s Day I thought I would share who has been a BIG encourager in my life…it’s my mother-in-LOVE. It’s funny because most people I know have this love hate relationship thing going on with their mother in law. Not so for me. I have been blessed by my husband’s mom. Brenda is more than my mother-in-LOVE, she is my friend.
You see, when my husband and I first got married I was not a Christian. My mother and father in law were long standing Christians and even Pastor’s kids, so I know there was a part of her heart that broke when her precious son announced that he would be marrying me, a nonbeliever. It’s not that I didn’t believe in God, I just never knew anything about him or what he was all about. My family always raised me to be a good girl, with good moral values, but never thought there would be a need for me to go to church.
I know from the moment her son and I started to get serious that she started to PRAY…and I mean pray like there is no tomorrow. You know the kind of prayers that are a matter of life and death. I wasn’t a bad girl, but I am sure that they had hopes that their prodigal son would return to his faith and I wasn’t exactly the person that would bring him closer to God, or was I?
For my 22nd Birthday my new family presented me with my Birthday present. In my family Birthday’s are like a national holiday, so I was stoked to see what my new family was giving to me as a token of their love. It was…well, it was a brand new shiny Bible. You know, the BIG Life Application Bible with my name already in it (so there was no returning it). I later told my new husband, “What did I do to your parents that they don’t like me?” He was surprised and wondered why I thought they didn’t like me. I told him they must not like me because they gave me a Bible. Needless to say, it was THE FIRST STEP that would eventually lead me into an amazing relationship with the Savior of the Universe.
Over the course of the 15 years that I have been married to my best friend I have grown, learned, lived, loved, and deepened in my understanding of just how amazing Christ is. Little did my mother in love know that her gift of that BIG beautiful Bible would lead me into full time ministry, where God called me to be a Pastor! Only God can bring about a change so radical, so amazing, and so complete.
My mother in love, Brenda, has been one of my biggest champions, best spiritual guides, beloved mentor, mother, and friend. She has taught me what it is like to live and breathe as a Proverbs 31 woman and I will never be able to fully verbalize the impact she has made on my life. I have been blessed to have an amazing mom (whom I love, cherish, and adore) and also an amazing mother in love (to teach, guide, and mentor me). I thank God each and every day for the two amazing women He has placed in my life.
Melissa Mashburn
Cooper City, Florida
