If my 103-year-old mom were president, Part 2

Mark Twain once wrote, "It is at our mother's knee that we acquire our noblest and truest and highest ideals."

That's certainly true of my mother, and I hope yours, too.

Former President Trump's campaign slogan is again: "Make America Great Again."

I was thinking about this slogan over the weekend when my mother turned 103 years old. No joke! Imagine all those candles on her cake!

We had a great time celebrating and reminiscing over all she's done through 10 decades of her life.

As our family sat around eating birthday cake, I asked myself: What if my 103-year-old mom were president? How would she make and keep American great?

I know one thing for sure: she wouldn't leave it up to Washington, D.C., or the White House to get the job done. Like other centenarians (age 100+ years) and those from the Greatest Generation, she would say the answers lie in God, each American, our families and our communities.

She actually gives her remedies for what burdens our souls and country in her autobiography she wrote at 90, "Acts of Kindness: My Story." And her wisdom and advice is something we all can follow to make our world and our lives great again, especially if we're facing hardships or trying to rebuild our lives.

If you didn't read Part 1 of this column last week, please pause to do so as I give some important and personal background information (and photos) about my mother and how she survived a life-threatening illness as a child and then the Great Depression with her family by working in Oklahoma cotton fields. I also discussed how she was married at just 16, and was abandoned to raise my two brothers and me as a single mom.

I also shared her wisdom and advice for all people who are enduring tough times, including economic ones:

• Don't be surprised by hardship
• Fight worry
• Get back to the basics

Here's the rest of mom's insight, directly quoted from her autobiography (pages 89-95):

Be humble and willing to work.

Back in the 1930s, any work was good work. We picked cotton, picked up cans, scrap metal, whatever it took to get by. The message from yesteryear is: Don't be too proud to do whatever it takes to meet the financial needs of your family.

There's no shame in a hard day's work, whatever it may be. It seems today that people would go on unemployment before they would work in a field picking anything. That would not have been the case when I was growing up.

When Herbert Hoover was president, we were having the worst of times. We were very excited about President Roosevelt, who did help us. But those of us with a strong work ethic received the government's help for just a short while, only until we could get back on our feet. I wish people would do that today. Instead, they depend upon the government, and the government in turn enables them.

Be rich in love.

We didn't have much. In fact, we had nothing at all compared with people today, but we had one another. We were poor, but rich in love. We've lost the value of family and friends today, and we've got to gain it back if we're ever to get back on track. If we lose all our stuff and still have one another and our health, what have we lost? We don't really own anything anyway. Everything is ultimately on loan to us. The Bible says, "The earth is the Lord and all it contains."

Help others.

Back during the Great Depression, we never quit helping others. Today, too many people are consumed with their own problems and only helping themselves. "What's in it for me?" is the question most are asking. But back then, it was, "What can I do to help you?"

When times are tough, it is human nature to survive and not serve, but one of the secrets in life is that it's actually in serving that we survive and even thrive. It is good exercise for the heart to bend down and help another person up.

Helping others often puts our own problems into proper perspective. Mama used to say, "If you think you're having it rough, look over your shoulder at what others are going through." I told the same to my children.

I believe giving our life to benefit others is the key to experiencing life to its fullest. That is why Jesus also said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." It couldn't get any clearer than that.

Lean upon the Lord for help and strength.

We didn't just have one another to lean on, but we had God, too. In God we trust was not merely stamped on our money but embedded in our hearts. We all attended church and belonged to a faith community. Church was the hub of society, the community core and rallying point. We thought and worked in community. The way we saw it was: If one of us was chained, none of us was free.

It's sad to see how many today have abandoned faith and religion. We trust money more than God. And maybe that's a reason we're in this economic pickle. If greed has become our god, then maybe we'd be better off viewing the bad economy more like a re-alignment that helps us to shift our eyes from our greeds to our needs.

Keep persevering in prayer.

The necessity of prayer reminds me of another story in which a rural farmer was paid a visit by one of his city relatives. Before dinner the farmer bowed his head and said grace. His sophisticated relative jeered, "This is old-fashioned; nobody with an education prays at the table anymore."

The farmer admitted that the practice was old and even allowed that there were some on his farm who did not pray before their meals. Justified, the relative remarked, "So enlightenment is finally reaching the farm. Who are these wise ones?"

The farmer replied, "My pigs."

Again, Jesus admonished us: "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you."

There was nothing easy during the Great Depression, but we endured and made it through, and we learned even more how to simplify, help one another and depend upon God. Children took on chores at an early age and by early teens were assisting in some ways with the provisions of the home. Yesteryears' kids often bore today's adult responsibilities. Back then, we grew up fast and often married young. In fact, by the time I was 16 years old, five of the seven Scarberry children in our family were married, including me.

So, let me recap all of mom's main points and wisdom:

• Don't be surprised by hardship
• Fight worry
• Get back to the basics
• Be humble and willing to work
• Be rich in love
• Help others
• Lead upon the Lord for help and strength
• Keep persevering in prayer

Now, that's how we can make America great again! Guaranteed!!

Now, you see why my brother, Aaron, and I wrote in the foreword of our mom's autobiography: "If there are two words to describe our Mom, it would be kindness and love. When anyone meets Mom, they feel like they have known her all their lives, because of her kind and loving spirit. In other words, Mom has said every morning for as long as we can remember, 'Lord, use me for your Glory.' And we believe He has done just that! God, thank you for giving us the best Mom in the world."

Mom, I don't know what's more difficult to believe: that you are 103 years old or that you have a son who is 84 years old! Regardless, I'm so grateful you are my mom. I always have been. We've been through thick and thin in this life, and we are still going strong. (Here's my mom's five-minute interview on the Mike Huckabee show, when he used to be on Fox, for those that want to hear more from that amazing centennial saint!).

Happy Mother's Day to my beloved mother and my amazing wife and true Valentine, Gena! Without you both, my life would be sunk, then and now!

(If you're so inclined, you can order my mom's autobiography, "Acts of Kindness: My Story," from Amazon. It also makes a great gift for a special woman or man in your life. I guarantee you that it will inspire you or a loved one you give it to.)

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