Closer to Eternity With Him

My Mama left today. The hurt ran a little deeper as I wondered if we'd ever see each other again. It's an amazing mercy from the Lord that she made it back here this time. After suffering a stroke in January of 2012, she's fought one health battle after another.

A constant prayer of mine has been the plea to just let us be together, at least one more time. There's nothing like growing older to reveal how long you've been taking living for granted, to make you wish you had savored those past moments more (but I wonder if we ever think we savor them enough). We all know we're dying daily, that our next breath is in His hands, and there are no guarantees we'll see old age or our grandchildren, but even the most eternally-focused still presume they'll have tomorrow. (Consider the way we treat each other. Surely if we took seriously the truth that we can die anytime, we wouldn't leave so many wounded in our paths or be so unforgiving.)

I recently read of a 72 year old woman who was diagnosed with a fast progressing cancer. "Doctor, am I going to die?" she asked. "Yes," he replied--as if this was really news, or a professional was needed to make it official.

So time marches on, and the mother who gave me popsicles and a warm bath after I fell into a pond full of tadpoles, the mother who left the sweetest notes in my lunch box or on my dresser, the mother I could be so unkind to when I was a teenager, is now the fragile woman I help into the car. She's the woman who needs a cane and gets easily tired and lives with much pain. She's the woman whose blue eyes still shine so brightly, whose heart still loves me and my family so generously.

Edith Schaeffer was a prolific letter writer, and I've been enjoying her book, With Love, Edith. She makes this beautiful observation about time:

"The date looks unreal, both year and day. How time does fly. If this present life were all that we had , the quick passage of time would be most depressing. How glad I am that we are getting closer to the 'beginning of eternity with Him' rather than to the 'end of life.'"

Praise God that whether we're 2 or 22 or 72, if we belong to Jesus, we're only moving toward a beginning rather than an end. 

And you know what I'll tell you if you still have your mother or father around. Love them often. Love them well.

With love,

Trisha