Yesterday was the thirtieth anniversary of my mom's homegoing. She has spent the last thirty years in the face-to-face presence of the Lord. What a glorious time she has had praising Him without the weight of sin. It is easy to think of the things I wish we could have shared over these past thirty years: my wedding, births of my first three children, and Moriah's adoption. But how much more glorious it has been for her to be with the Lord. I rejoice that she has not had to deal with life in this fallen world. And I rejoice that we will be together for eternity.
How thankful I am for the seven years that the Lord gave me with her. She was a wonderful mother who loved me and cared for me very much. She made my early life joyful and secure. I have lots of precious memories of life in our happy home. She was a very friendly and outgoing person who always looked at the bright side of things. Some of her friends have shared stories with me through the years of her optimistic view and her faith in Christ. I remember many of the things she taught me and I find myself saying those same things to my kids. "A soft answer turns away wrath" and "let's talk about something pleasant instead." It's amazing that I can hear her saying those things even though I was so small when she died.
Now that I have my own husband and kids, I can imagine a little bit more the sacrifices that my Dad made for us. His career couldn't be his focus as it can be for many men. He always made sure that he was available for us. He kept our home and gave a wonderful home life, even though we didn't have our mom there with us. The Lord blessed us with many people who helped my Dad raise us, too. How faithfulHe has always been to us! And now we have our wonderful step-mom, too. Though none of us like that term : )
Someday, my children look forward to meeting their "grandma in heaven." They know that she is waiting there for them. That will be a great day! Meanwhile, we rejoice in all the good things the Lord is doing in our lives here and we eagerly await all that He has planned.
4 comments:
Thanks for sharing this post. I didn't realize it had been so long since your mom passed away. I'm so glad that you have memories of her, and can think about her today.
Thanks for posting pictures too. You look so much like your mom! :)
I can see you in your mom. You look very alike.
I have tears running down my face after reading this, Amy. I remember your mom always being so kind to me (even when I didn't deserve it) and many good childhood memories come to mind that my "Aunt Gladys" was a part of. I'm sorry you lost her so young. I look forward to seeing her again someday too!!
Love, Heidi
Last Sunday night we were at Steve & Jan's "cabin" (Steve is Beth's oldest brother) and we did some "home church" there. He was talking about Christmas memories and I was thinking that it was 30 years ago this Christmas that we took the Greyhound bus back to Michigan for Christmas shortly after Mom's death. THAT was an experience.
You have expressed memories of our Mom well here. I was just a little bit older than you, Amy, but still very young when she went to be with the Lord. However, she did excert a pretty big influence on us in those few short years. AND, you're right that dad really did quite the job. I would not wish to be in the shoes he had to fill. Yugh.
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