Revive Our Hearts

Guest (Female): She was a special and remarkable woman in that she raised seven children on her own.

Guest (Male): Her commitment to God and commitment to family is just humbling.

Guest (Female): She has been the greatest prayer warrior and prayer partner that I could have ever had.

Guest (Female): That's her comfort and my mother's greatest contribution: a life selflessly lived here with sincere longing to be with the one she loved the most, the one who had redeemed her soul.

Guest (Male): If you have a kind, good mother, you should consider yourself lucky. But if you have a godly mother, you should consider yourself blessed. And I truly think I am in the blessed category.

Dana Gresh: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Adorned: Living Out the Beauty of the Gospel Together. For May 8th, 2026, I'm Dana Gresh. What does it mean to leave a godly legacy? We're going to hear some practical examples of that in this special episode today. In light of Mother's Day coming up, several of our listeners wanted to honor their mothers and share how their lives made a big impact. Here's Nancy to start us off by honoring her own mom.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: As you know, Sunday is Mother's Day, and I hope that you have plans this weekend to honor some of the special women in your life, whether that would be a mother, a mother-in-law, grandmothers, and spiritual mothers. I like to take time on this special occasion to honor not only my own mother but some of the other women who've had a spiritual impact in my life over the years. I am so thankful for the mother that God has given me. I am her namesake. Her name is Nancy also, and God has used her in my life and in so many other lives in such a significant way.

She's the mother of seven children. The first six of those children she had in her first five years of marriage by the time she was 24 years of age. I didn't realize as a younger girl and woman what an incredible thing that was for a woman to devote her life to the extent that my mother has to her children. I certainly didn't fully appreciate as a young girl or younger woman all that it meant for a woman like my mother to lay down her life in the many, many ways she has for her family. But the older I've gotten, the more I appreciate that, and I just want to say to my mom today: Happy Mother's Day, I love you, and I'm so thankful for you.

The scripture does tell us to honor our parents, our mothers and our fathers, and it seemed like an appropriate time this weekend to hear from some of our listeners who wanted to do that. So we set up a call-in line and we asked our listeners to offer a tribute, to share something they appreciate about their mother. I was moved hearing some of the tributes that were given, and I know that you will be too. As you're listening, would you thank the Lord for the mother that he gave you? I'm assuming she wasn't perfect or isn't perfect if she's still living, but thank the Lord for the way God has used your mother in your life and ask the Lord how you could honor her in a special way through the course of this Mother's Day weekend.

Guest (Male): I'd like to pay tribute to my mom, Helen Gaten. She's one of the few people I know who truly lives the Christian life and not only just talks about it. I have a younger brother, and when we were kids, I remember my mom having Bible studies with us, and she would try to teach us about the Lord and to have godly principles and to do things God's way. She would always tell us that she wanted us to grow up to be godly men because to her, that was most important.

I remember one time when I was 14 years old and I told her I wanted to be rich and famous when I grow up. I told her if that ever happens, I'm going to buy you furs and a nice house and a nice car and everything. She looked at me real serious and she said, "If you really want to make me happy, live your life for Jesus." She said because happiness is not found in all those other things. She's a hard worker, too. She holds an eight-hour job, and when she comes home, she cooks and cleans for us and washes our clothes, and she even takes care of her mom who has Alzheimer's disease.

When she's doing all this, it seems like it gives her joy that she's just helping out the family and doing all that she can for her family. To her, that's her most top priority. But the thing I think I respect most about my mom is that she carries herself like a lady. Her and my father have been married for close to 40 years, and all the time I've been knowing her, I've never once seen her look at another man or act flirtatious or just carry herself indecently. I guess in conclusion, I'd just like to say that if you have a kind, good mother, you should consider yourself lucky, but if you have a godly mother, you should consider yourself blessed. And I truly think I am in the blessed category.

Guest (Female): I only had my mom for seven years before the Lord took her home, but I had more love and more kindness in those seven years than most children have in a lifetime. What makes it even more special, I was adopted by she and my dad when I was two months old, but our bond was as strong or stronger than most blood-related moms and daughters. I am here to tell you blood is not thicker than water. It is the time, love, and patience that makes a mom a mom.

Guest (Female): I would like to pay tribute to my mom, Catherine Palmer, whose most distinguishing characteristic was that she, more than any Christian I have ever known, embraced and lived out the verse in Philippians chapter one, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain." Mom had a deep, loving, and selfless commitment to her husband, children, family, and friends. She was an active witness to the unsaved and had a true servant's heart toward her fellow believers in the local church body.

But to those who knew Catherine well, they were aware that what she desired most was to be with her precious Lord Jesus Christ, who gave her the gift of eternal life when she was 48 years old, a wife and mother of five, emotionally exhausted from a long, futile search for inner peace and happiness. After the Lord took Mom home in 1996 at the age of 72 through circumstances that to us were sudden and unexpected, my dad told me that she once said to him, "Fred, this has nothing to do with my love for you or the children, but if the Lord were to take me home right now, I would be very happy."

In the months and years that followed her homecoming, my sisters and I would often say, "Mommy's where she wants to be." That's our comfort and my mother's greatest contribution: a life selflessly lived here with sincere longing to be with the one she loved the most, the one who had redeemed her soul.

Guest (Female): I had a pastor once ask me who would I most like to be like when I grew up. And without a doubt of hesitation, my answer was my mom. My thoughts embraced all the grateful people that she showered seeds of kindness upon by ministering words and acts of encouragement in little ways. So Mom, thanks for the example over these wonderful years, and may you live out your life in good health and be blessed with fruits of kindness bestowed upon you.

Guest (Female): My name is Jennifer and I'm calling for a tribute to my mother, Nelly Jones, who passed away and went to be with the Lord. She was a special and remarkable woman in that she raised seven children on her own. Our father died and my mother went on to hold down a full-time job, was active in the community, and continued to make sure we knew about the love of Christ. In that, she was involved in the church and always was talking to us about having faith and loving the Lord.

She was just a remarkable woman who to me epitomized what the Proverbs 31 woman was. My mother, when she went on to be with the Lord, even though we grieved over her, we all felt that she was getting her rewards for her life devoted to Christ, and that made it a little easier for us in her passing. Of course we still miss her, and one thing about our mother is she had a wonderful sense of humor. During the most trying times, she was able to laugh or make us laugh and find the humor in situations. It's four boys and three girls, and we try to do the same thing with our children. We just felt that she deserved a tribute. Her name is Nelly Jones. Thank you.

Guest (Female): I would like to pay tribute to my mother for Mother's Day on Revive Our Hearts. I have a very special mother. I love my mother very much. The Lord couldn't have given me a better mother. We've been through a lot of hard times, and since I was a little girl she made me learn how much Jesus loved me and what the Lord has done for me. Even in the roughest times, she's had me in church. She's instilled in me the things that the Lord has done.

As a woman now, I'm active in my church, I'm saved, and by her being a representation for Christ, it has led me to be the person I am today. God's still working on me. She taught that to me when I was very young, and it's true, he's still working on me today. My mom had difficulties while she was pregnant with me. She was in a car, she was hit by a bus, she had a hard time in labor that could have come out to where either her or me might not have made it. So I just know that the Lord has blessed me so much by my mother, that he brought her through that when I was born. Mother's Day is just a wonderful thing for me because I love her so much. Happy Mother's Day, Mom.

Guest (Female): My mom is probably the hardest working mom in the whole world. She had two failed marriages. She raised three children alone with no support at all except from the Lord. She rededicated her life when I was nine years old and has been in church ever since, except for when I fell away in my teenage years and came back to the Lord after I was married.

But my mom worked so hard. She didn't have time to spend socially or even to get out and play with us and do things that moms like to do. She worked so hard, and she always had to do manual labor. She always had to stand on her feet and do that type of work. Now she and I are the greatest of friends. I'm going through a crisis in my own life, and she has been the greatest prayer warrior and prayer partner that I could have ever had. There's just not a greater mom, and I thank the Lord for her.

Guest (Male): My mother was widowed with six kids, the youngest being a month old. My father died of an aneurysm suddenly, and my mother didn't have a job. She was an at-home mother, no driver's license. Because of her faith, because of her reliance on God, she came to us and she said, "We can't give up." She had to learn how to drive and she desperately sought out a job and took a job teaching art and doing artwork at night, not taking any state aid.

I just remember during the tough times her selling furniture and just coming to the house with less furniture to pay the bills. Just over the years, she has been unmoved in her faith to God and seeing how that cemented us together as a family for God. I was at church the other day and someone asked for my testimony, and I said, "Growing up, Jesus was as part of our family as anyone of my brothers or my one sister." It was just a glorious way to grow up even given the hard circumstances, just seeing her every day, her commitment to God and commitment to family is just humbling.

Guest (Female): When I was away from the Lord, I had been raised in a godly home and was taught to fear the Lord and to serve him. But as I got older and had a family of my own, I seemed to wander from that. But my mother never gave up. She continued in her prayers. She continued reminding me every once in a while of my background, even though I didn't like to hear it. But it was through her perseverance that I began to realize what was missing in my life again, and I returned to the Lord and I've been serving him faithfully since that time. I really appreciate what she did for me in her prayers and in holding me up.

Guest (Female): My mother died four years ago due to complications of an aneurysm surgery. I remember her calling me around the first of November saying, "I have your birthday present all wrapped, so you pick a weekend for a party and we'll celebrate." The next phone call I got was someone telling me that my mother was being rushed to a hospital. The next four months at her bedside in ICU were the most stressful times of my life.

Through losing her, I became more aware of what she stood for: her teachings, her values, especially her love for others. When I stayed with my dad after the funeral, I looked for that birthday present she said she had put away for me, but I never found it. Then I began to think of all the gifts she had given me throughout my life. After my marriage failed, my mother helped me raise my son and called so many times to ask if we needed anything.

She was a true Christian and always saw or looked for the needs of others. She was my best comforter and reminded me she was just a phone call away. I did call her often, sometimes just to thank her or say how much I appreciate all she's done for me over the years. After her death, I found myself going to the phone so many times dialing her number, then having to hang up realizing she was no longer there.

I was lost without her. We were very close. Then I realized I should have been calling on God all these years. Why did I let my mother carry such a load? Even though she insisted, I failed to see God wanting to be a part and offer his help and guidance. Now I'm learning how to communicate with God in my thoughts and words and deeds. For me, it took practice to really feel comfortable in my conversations with him.

I must admit, I was mad at God for a while because my mother was so important to me and I still needed her. But if it took losing her to make me need God more, then I can accept her loss and give thanks to God for all the years he gave her to me and for letting me have the chance to tell her how much she meant to me and say goodbye, which a lot of people never get to do. Because I kept her spirit alive in my heart, my tribute to her is exactly what she gave to me: self-worth, respect, gratitude, values, and most of all, love for one another. To fulfill her belief is my tribute to my mother.

Guest (Female): I want to just express my love for my mother, Angela. She lives in California and I in Idaho, and there isn't probably a day that goes by that I don't think about her and miss her. The one thing that I can really tell you all about my mom is that she was always giving and continues to be. There isn't anything that she wouldn't do for me and all her grandkids and for my brother. After my sister died many years ago, it was really hard for my mom and it was hard for all of us. But in time, she just continued to just give and be considerate of others, and she is just a wonderful person. I pray that I can just follow her in the way she is.

Guest (Female): I want to thank my mother, Roberta Hall, who has been a wonderful example and model for all of us five children on how to walk with the Lord. People come up to me and say things like, "Your mom is so special. She is one of my favorite people. She is so kind." My sister, who trained as a school psychologist, once tested my mom's IQ. She was a few points from the genius level, and this was even after raising teenagers.

There is no doubt in my mind that my mother could have run a Fortune 500 company with ease. She is a hard worker, gives her best at any task, has excellent people skills, is smart and full of common sense, and can build harmony among different people. Instead of pursuing a job or career, she chose to stay at home and nurture five kids and be a helpmate to her husband.

She also volunteered frequently in the community and at her church, and she was a 4-H leader for 28 years. Some people today might say that my mom wasted her near-genius mind and her talent. But you can look into my mom's eyes and face at age 73 and see joy and vitality. She sacrificed her life for others. Jesus set the example as the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. He gave his life for others to help others. My mom followed Jesus's lead. Thank you, Mom, and Happy Mother's Day.

Guest (Female): I'm from Fresno, California, and I would like to relay this message for my mother, Cindy. I just want to tell her thank you, Mom, for praying for me and being there in all my times of need and all my rebellious teenage years. Without you, I know I wouldn't be the godly woman that I am today. I honestly am thankful for such a wonderful single parent that you've been. Thank you for all the prayers, all the wonderful prayers that you continue to pray for me throughout my life. I love you, Mom, and I thank God for you and thank you for everything he's done.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: What a treat to hear each of these listeners as they honor their moms. They've chosen to use their words in keeping with the fifth commandment. It tells us to honor our father and our mother. As you've been listening to today's program, maybe you've been thinking, "I don't think I could make a call like that. I don't think I could give that kind of tribute or honor." Maybe your relationship with your mom has been strained.

Maybe there's a lot of pain when you think about your mom. She may have been absent from your life; maybe she still is. But even if that's the case, there are still ways that you can obey the fifth commandment to honor your parents. All of us have had to work through things with moms and dads and to learn to forgive, to move on, to pray for our parents, to ask God to show us how to speak with honor and even think with honor toward those who are difficult to love.

So I hope as we come into this Mother's Day weekend, which for you might be painful as you think about your mom, ask the Lord to show you how you can honor your mom in ways that are appropriate.

Dana Gresh: Nancy, I sense that those were some pretty important words for someone to hear today. In fact, if you're struggling with a relationship with a parent right now or if you're just really missing your mom, wishing she were here this weekend, I'd love to point you to our prayer page, ReviveOurHearts.com/prayer. You can submit a prayer request there. Our team would love to hear from you and pray for you.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: If you're a mom, God has given you such an important, a vital role in passing on to the next generation the baton of spiritual truth, the baton of the Christian faith. I just pray that God will encourage you in your calling, that God will give you faith and courage and stamina, all that you need—grace and love and wisdom—to be the mom, the woman God wants you to be as you help to establish and to leave a godly legacy.

At Revive Our Hearts, our hope is always to make a difference in the lives of women around the world through a variety of resources and outreaches such as conferences, books, international translations, and so much more. Most importantly, we want women to be transformed by the word of God and the hope found in Jesus Christ.

Well, at the end of May, Revive Our Hearts concludes our ministry year, which means we wrap up the financial books and we put the final touches on a new budget for a new fiscal year. Year after year, we've seen the Lord provide exactly what was needed to sustain and expand this ministry through the generosity of his people.

Right now, we're praying for God's provision as we prepare for a new fiscal year and just seek to continue ministering to women in your area and all around the world. When you make a donation of whatever amount God puts on your heart to Revive Our Hearts, you're making an impact, an eternal impact on women around the world. I'm so grateful for your support, especially at this important time.

Dana Gresh: As this ministry year wraps up, the need is greater than usual. We're asking God to provide $1.4 million in order to close our current budget shortfall and step into a new ministry year fully equipped. That's the greatest amount we've asked for to date, but we know our God is able and we believe our mission is worth it.

When I think about my daughters, my granddaughters, I'm more passionate than ever about the message of Revive Our Hearts because while the world feeds them lies about who they are and what will satisfy their deepest longings, Revive Our Hearts is declaring the truth that freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness are found in Christ alone.

For 25 years, this has been our message, and by God's grace, this will be our message for 25 years to come. Would you join us in making this a reality? Your gift is for the woman who needs to know that she can thrive in Christ. We can't reach her without you.

When you give throughout the month of May, we'd love to send you Called to Thrive, a new booklet from Nancy and your personal guide to living free, full, and fruitful in Christ. It's our gift to you for joining us in this work. To make a donation and request your booklet, visit ReviveOurHearts.com or call us at 1-800-569-5959.

If you're one of our listeners outside of the United States or Canada, we can't send you the printed booklet, but we would love to give you a digital copy when you donate. You'll be able to request that at ReviveOurHearts.com. Next week is all about becoming women who are free in Christ. We're going to kick it off with a powerful message from Asheritah Ciuciu called "Food is Not the Enemy."

If you're in bondage to food in some way, you're not alone. This is a huge area of struggle for women, and my prayer is that these episodes will help you step toward freedom in Christ. In the meantime, I hope you'll have a lovely Mother's Day weekend, my friend. Please join us next week for Revive Our Hearts.

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.