Monday, May 01, 2006

A TEAR



Last Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 4:35 pm, my Mom went from earth to eternity to be with her savior, Jesus. She was 92. Her name was Beatrice..(she made sure you pronounced the a: ah!) Her husband, Floyd, called her "honey".

Her three children watched her die for 5 days. We comforted her, sang her favorite hymns, read Scripture to her, kept her dry and as pain free as possible. We found a station that had her kind of music. The kind where George Beverly Shea sang! It was awesome.

One of the times I read Scripture to her, she opened her eyes and was really concentrating on the words! It was a precious time.
She loved God's Word and never neglected to spend time in it. I will always have this image of her with the Bible on her lap.

My Mom loved to go to Church. She played the piano at the Churches my Dad Pastored. She diligently served with her husband for 60 years. Yup.... six zero. That's how many years they were married.

Yes, I will remember all that.
But, I will remember something else too.

One of the Nurses told us she has observed three things in a person when they are ready to die. Mottling, breathing from the chest and a tear.

If this was true, I wondered, maybe it only happened to those who are going to spend eternity apart from God.

But NO!
Right after she died, I looked and lo and behold...........
there it was....
a little pear shaped golden tear, hanging on to the edge of her right eye.
And we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she went to Heaven!!

Mom.......I cry for me.
For you I rejoice!!
I love you....now and for eternity.
And, I will see you soon.
I can't wait.

And, Mom, did you know that your Grandson, Steve and his wife Erica, had a baby girl on your birthday?! They named her Anna Grace and I'm sure they will remind her of you often, especially on May 3rd!!

If you can pray in Heaven.......pray for Me, Christie, Jonathan, David and Nickie,
Gil, Janice and Mark, Dann and David.

You have an IN!!



COMFORT FROM GOD'S WORD




2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (The Message)

“All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too.”



John 14:1-6, 27 (New Living Translation)

“Don't be troubled. You trust God, now trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father's home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know where I am going and how to get there. “No, we don't know, Lord," Thomas said. "We haven't any idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid”



1 Peter 1:3-6

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”



2 Corinthians 5:1-5 (The Message)

“For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we'll never have to relocate our "tents" again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what's coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we're tired of it! We've been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what's ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we'll never settle for less.”



Psalm 34:17-18 (New Living Translation)

“The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit.”



Psalm 46:1” (New Living Translation)

“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.”



Psalm 121:1-2 (New Living Translation)

“I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth!


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