Yesterday was my mom's 76th birthday. I couldn't go see her because I didn't want even the possibility of giving her whatever it is that I have had these past two weeks. I did call her, wish her happy birthday, and promise to take her to lunch some day soon. During our conversation she told me how one of her traveling buddies that she had just talked to on last Wednesday had died last Friday. She was hurting. I could tell from her voice and I felt so helpless to comfort her on the phone.
After our conversation, I began to reflect on the life I have had with my mother. My earliest memories of her are her sitting at our dining room table with her commentaries spread out all over it, studying her bible. Did you know that my mom completed "Precept Upon Precept" and "Community Bible Study?" That means she has studied the Bible in tremendous depth twice in her lifetime. I haven't even done it once. Oh, I have been part of one Bible study or another most of my adult life. But these have been topical studies. Don't get me wrong...topical studies are great. But they just don't measure up to studying the entire Word of God.
Then there is her tremendous gift of mercy that I saw played out over and over as I grew up. If someone was hurting or distressed, they called Mom. Daddy used to joke that it was useless to call home because the line was always busy (this was back before call waiting). Then there were the endless dinner for families in bereavement, desserts for new neighbors, and light meals for new babies. If someone was in the hospital, call Mom. She would visit you and sit with you when your family couldn't be there. In fact, Mom is a "pink lady" at the hospital even at 76! Whatever you needed, be it a physical need, emotional need, or spiritual need, Mom would try her best to fill it.
And then there was her "prayer time". After supper and the evening news, you would find Mom in the living room with her Bible open and her head bowed in prayer. There is evidence to this day that Mom still practices her "quiet time". There is a TV tray next to her recliner that still holds a devotional book and her Bible. Mom is one of those people that when she prays for you, stand back, because God is going to do something wonderful. I have told you about the abuse in our marriage in the first 13 years. Well, once Mom found out, she took to praying for our (notice I said "our" not "my") marriage. And as a friend of mine once said "she prayed up a whale." My husband and I entered into a program expressly for couples experiencing domestic violence. Of some 10,000 couples that went through that program before it disbanded, we are one of two couples that are still married. I talked to my old counselor from that program a few months ago in search of some medical records for my husband, and she told me that she honestly did not expect us to "make it" (i.e., stay married). My mom, along with a few others (domestic violence is one of the best kept secrets in the world) prayed up a miracle straight from God.
My prayer is to someday be my mother. I desire her depth of relationship with her Heavenly Father. It has sustained both her and me for 76 years and I can only begin to imagine the reception waiting for her once she gets to heaven. I imagine God himself waiting there, with arms open to receive her, holding her, and telling her how proud He is of her and her not being the least surprised because she knows Him so very well.
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