Mothers play an integral role in their children’s lives. They provide wisdom, encouragement, nurturing, and knowledge—teaching their sons and daughters from the moment they are born. Billy Graham’s mother, Morrow Graham, embodied all of these traits as she raised Billy and his three siblings on their dairy farm in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A Lesson in Hard Work

From an early age, Billy saw his mother working hard to provide for her family, whether she was chopping wood for the stove or handling the bookkeeping for the family farm.

“I was taught that laziness was one of the worst evils, and that there was dignity and honor in labor,” Billy Graham wrote in his autobiography, Just As I Am.

“My mother was a woman who worked with her hands,” Billy Graham once said.

Read 7 lessons Billy Graham learned from his mother.

A Recipe Filled with Love

In 1992, at an event in Florida, Billy said, “You know, my mother was the best maker of cakes in our community when I was a boy. And she could bake those cakes and they would just melt in your mouth and I love them even to this moment.”

As we get ready to celebrate Mother’s Day, we are sharing a recipe from Billy Graham’s mother for pound cake. This cake is available at the Graham Brothers Dairy Bar in the Billy Graham Library—and now you can make it at home!