Mom

Dear Mom has gone to be with the Lord. I am so grateful to have been able to share my precious mother-in-law with her two daughters and three sons. She always treated me as a real daughter, and what a blessing it has been.

Bob's mother has been ill for a number of years since she had a colectomy, but each time the doctor gave her six months, she would outwit him and live longer. When she'd improve, she'd tell him, "Praise the Lord! We prayed!"

Finally this last time when he said "Not long, Doris," he added, "Now, this is only my prognosis, because I am no match for your God." Sadly, he was right, and she has left us. But she still outsmarted him in a way, because now she is totally free forever from all her concerns, and resting in Jesus.

Always chipper whenever I'd call, she loved to pray on the phone with me. We'd go down the list of kids and grandkids and pray and cry together through so many things over the years. We'd talk about the next thing to live for: a graduation, a wedding, a new baby on the way, and then we'd believe God for her to be around to see it.

Though I know there is such a thing as an untimely passing, still, there comes a time on God's calendar when we need to excuse ourselves and leave this world to the next generation. I hope when I go, I can be more like Mom with her unceasing interest and concern for her loved ones, her always cheerful voice at the end of the phone line, her incessant prayers for each one, her consistent dependance on God's hand on her life and the lives of her family.

How many times did I hear her pray, "Lord, he's Yours, You touch his life. Lord, she's Yours; You help her through this"? I can't count how often she prayed those words. We were usually a couple thousand miles away, but we might as well have been in the same kitchen.

Mom's concern for all of us and those outside the family reaches beyond her life. She planned her funeral to include the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and Psalm 23 because she lived this stuff. It is what got her through the hard times and ultimately always to joy again, and victory.

We'd sing that together on the phone. "Victory in Jesus, my Savior forever. He sought me and bought me with His redeeming love. He loved me e're I knew Him, and all my love is due Him. He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood."

Yes, she was absolutely clear in the knowledge that despite her failings and sins, she had cleansing beneath the blood of Jesus, and that No Matter What Happened, her future was nestled in His hands. Her sins were washed away, the darkness in her heart had been driven out by the light of His presence.

I wish I had reminded her of this before she passed away. One time about 25 years ago she prayed for me. I recall sitting in a chair and her laying her hands on my head in my kitchen. That small prayer utterly changed my life...

This past Saturday our son, Peter, and I sat looking at each other across the supper table, after receiving Vicki's news that Grandma had gone home. Peter said, "You know Mom, it really makes me think about things. I think, I wonder, where a person is when they die. I know where Grandma is, but I wonder about other people; I wonder where they are, and if they knew Jesus."

I am so glad Grandma knew Jesus. And I thank Him that she helped me know Him better. I thank Jesus for her and her faith. I shall sorely miss our regular pep talks and hymns sings and weekly prayer meetings over the phone.

Funny how God just takes an ordinary grandma and then re-shapes the world because she had a little faith.