Skip to main content

Celebrating Life

Sitting on the very front pew, in between two other women who had much longer relationships than I had with Mom Ruth, I found myself recalling how over 30 years ago my husband and I came upon this church.  Yes, we happened to come upon this church, the first time being a Sunday evening, when we quietly slipped into a hard wooden pew in the very back.  The old sanctuary was built in the round, with all the pews circling the pulpit and choir loft.  It had been a long while that I had been in church, and even then I felt my heart being tugged by the Spirit in that place.  However, it wouldn't be until another 4 or 5 years later that it would become a home church for us.  At that time, it was a refuge for me when my husband was healing in a rehab center.  By then there was a new modern sanctuary, but the same Spirit was there and evident.  Most of all the people made us feel welcomed and loved, and we were taken under the wings of particular older couples.  They made us feel like indeed we were part of their family.  But time moves through each of us, and in all the years you share with one another, you never imagine that day is coming when all you will have left is wonderful memories. One by one, the wives and husbands have been sweetly ushered into eternity.  Mom Ruth is almost one of the last ones to go, having persisted for 100 years.  You never understand God's timing, especially when physically the body can be so worn with life, but He always has a bigger picture in mind, and I am sure her final prayers for me and our family were certainly heard and needed. . .  

There was something so special about Ruth's generation of people. She comes from the same stock of Mom and Daddio.  Demonstrating sincerity and genuineness, and constantly pouring out love to any and everyone who would receive it; these were just a few traits they shared with one another.  Willing to invest time in those that would come behind them was a priority for them.  My time spent with Mom Ruth on Saturdays was such a boost to me, that it was always hard to leave, and we both eagerly looked forward to the next month when we would do it again.  My husband also appreciated that time I had with her, often reminding me that I was "so much better" after I had been with Ruth.   

Yes, I am "so much better" because of Mom Ruth.  I have embraced my purpose in life to love; love without limits or conditions, love as Jesus would, humbly and genuine.  Be faithful in love, endure the hardships and battles in life with love.  Be forgiving in love, giving up grudges and resentments.  Above all love God with all my heart, even though I wonder if my love sometimes is just a very strong like, as I often feel that humanly I could never love Him in the way He truly is worthy of.  Still amazing to me, that He extended His love to me through His Son and through very special people like Ruth.  

 All I can say is thank you Lord.  Thank you for blessing me with such wonderful relationships with your people who faithfully loved and served you.  Thank you for the privilege of being in their family, and being "the daughter" of my dear Mom Ruth. . .



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

But . . .

  I had to pause for a moment, as I began reading the text this early morning.  But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly:  they became stubborn and would not listen to Thy commandments."  (Nehemiah 9:18).    How often do I find myself verbalizing "but? what about? what then? what if? really?" All the phrases that feed doubt and angst into my life are found in that one conjunction.  Memory stands as the faithful argument against it, but when faced with future days all seems easily forgotten.  This verse comes to a people who had returned to their homeland after being ravaged and exiled by foreign powers.  Nehemiah is reminding them of who they are, and especially of their one and only God who has forever been faithful to them despite  their faithlessness and wrongdoing.  He reminds them how God is a God of forgiveness, slow to anger, longsuffering, overflowing with lovingkindness, never forsaking them even when He was totally forgott...
Post a Comment
Read more

Summer Breeze

  Gypsy Rose immediately prances to the back door as she hears her name.  We are ready for our morning walk, which has started later than usual, since I have some of these summer days off.  But it is still early enough to catch the morning breeze.  Walking south, I am refreshed by feeling the gentle wind all around me, it's a cool wrap in contrast to the summer sun.  But it all seems to disappear as I turn the corner and head west, my summer breeze is gone.  I am at a loss for it even as I continue north and east.  It's only as I begin the southern sidewalks back home that I am met with the blissful breeze.  I realize that though I wasn't feeling it for most of my steps, it was there all along, I just had to turn the right direction to get relief . . .  Sometimes, that is how my relationship with God seems.  Yes, I know He is ever near and is with me, but I don't feel that fact.  Sometimes my prayers seem to be in a vacuum, and I'm ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Brief Moments of Grace

  "But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place,  that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a  little reviving in our bondage." (Ezra 9:8)   Summer welcomes me today with a cloudy cool morning and a subtle fresh breeze.  The day is probably teasing me with moderate temperatures before it will launch into more robust sunlight and heat.  The scorching temperatures have given an abundance of tomatoes, bush beans and yellow squash in my garden, while tormenting the kale, cilantro, spinach and herbs.  My refreshment is found swimming laps in the pool and teaching or rather reminding Gypsy Rose to stay in her lane while we swim together.  Days seem to run together, slip away too fast, as I often feel locked in a routine of sleep, work, cook, repeat. I know that I need to pause and reflect, because even in that daily ritual are God's brief moments of gr...
Post a Comment
Read more