Mary, the Mom

As Mary sat rocking her precious baby boy, I'm sure she did as all mothers do...She counted fingers and toes, she touched the translucent ears, she rubbed the feathery hair on his head.  I'm sure she smiled as she looked into the trusting eyes that looked back at her.  .As Mary held her baby boy, she had to wonder what, and who it was that she held in her arms.

As she sang beautiful things to this child she was singing to the Rose of Sharon... the Lily of the Valley... the Dayspring... the Daystar... the Bright and Morning Star.

As she was feeding her child  she was feeding the Bread of Life.

When she called him son, she was talking to the Son of David.... the Son of Man... the Son of Righteousness...the Great I AM.

Mary, either knowing or unknowing, began to prepare this boy that she cradled and rocked.  She was loving him to prepare him for the cruelties that were to come.  She was comforting him to prepare him for the tears he would shed for us.  And as she rocked him, she was molding him into the man that would be the Rock that is Higher than I, the Rock upon which the church is built, The Chief Cornerstone.

Mary was rocking the Rock of our Salvation.

 

 

Luke 1:31 - And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS

For This I Am Thankful

I wanted to write the typical Thanksgiving post...what are you thankful for, but in light of today's events and today's problems it almost seems plastic.  So, I would like to get real and just say some things from my heart and hopefully it will touch your heart.

When we see wars, death, terrorism, persecutions, sin being legalized in our own country, a great falling away from the faith, and just the stresses we face each day, sometimes it may be hard
to focus on the things that we are, or need to be, thankful for.

While I'm penning these words, I get a call from a dear Tennessee friend and pastor, who became part of our family because of his close relationship to my sister.  He was so good to her and my sister loved him like a son and through their friendship, he became my friend.  He just called to encourage me and tell me that he is praying for me and my family.  For this, I am very thankful.

Through trials with my grandson, which brings feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, I get a text from a dear friend that just says, "are you okay" and I cry because someone cared enough to ask.  There was no long conversation, no opinions, no advice, just a simple question that showed a heart of love.  For this, I am thankful.

When I get a call from a friend who lets me vent my frustrations, my heartaches, my anger, my troubles and she listens without judging me or condemning me, for this I am thankful.

As I struggle through difficulties and deaths, there are some things that can help make the day a little easier to face.  As all grandparents know, there is just something about the sound of those voices of our grandchildren, there is just something about those smiles and there is just something about those arms around our necks in a sweet hug.  When times get overwhelming, I text my kids "I need a picure" and immediately, through the wonders of electronics, I get a smile on my phone of one of those faces that makes my heart smile.  For this I am thankful.





During those times I get a phone call from my granddaughter when her house is in distress, when she's scared and just needs to hear someone's voice, I am so happy that I can be of some comfort, some consolation.  For this I am thankful




.



One of my granddaughters came to my house the other day and kept repeating, "Mimi, I 'misted' you so much" and kept giving me hugs, it made the troubles of my heart seem so small.  When she left and said, "You will always be my Mimi and I will love you forever and ever" (and yes, her goodbyes are always this dramatic), she gave me something to cherish.  For this I am thankful.




My sons and my husband took me to a West Virginia basketball game the other day, even though my stepdad had just passed and I wasn't much company, they still wanted me to go with them.  They wanted me to have a good time in spite of everything.  For this I am thankful.




 
Two little granddaughters came to visit, we took pictures, played in the floor, and made ghost cookies that we couldn't eat unless we made ghost sounds of ooooooh in a high pitched voices.  There was lots of hugs, kissing faces, chocolate, toys, songs, and dog hugs.  For this I am thankful.








When I told my stepdad goodbye on my last visit, I didn't realize it would be the last goodbye.  And although death is so painful for the living, it can have consolations.  My stepdad was supposed 
to go home on Monday because, once again, he had come through unbelievable circumstances.  He had lived through a brain aneurysm, five brain surgeries, feeding tube for 15 years, and several bouts with pneumonia.

The doctor came in and was just giving him the speech of take care of yourself because you're going home today.  My stepdad just smiled (which he does a lot when he doesn't actually hear what you're saying).  I believe he understood that day.  He looked at my nephew and, in his whispery voice, said, "I'm going home."  My nephew told him that he knew that so he was going to go on to the house and get everything ready for him.  Once again my stepdad said, "I'm going home."   And once again my nephew told him that he understood.  He was going to get it all ready.  My stepdad then said, "No.  You don't understand.  I'm going Home" and he closed his eyes and entered heaven.  For this I am very thankful.

Psalms 107:1 - O give thanks unto the LORD, for [he is] good: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.

Filthy Rags....or Deer Legs

I used to struggle with the story of Cain and Abel and the fact that Cain's offering wasn't good enough.  I always thought that Cain gave the best he had just as Abel did, but what I didn't see was that Cain had already been told what offering was acceptable and what was not.  It would be like a teacher asking the class to write an essay on their summer vacation and one child turns in a page full of math problems with the excuse that they are better at math than writing.  I know that simplifies the whole thing, but it's basically the same.  The authority asks for something, explains the rules, and expects for everyone to comply.

And how often do we do this in our daily lives?  How often do we decide the rules don't really apply to us, so we change them.  The speed limit says 70 mph, so we set our cruise control on 72.  What's up with that?  What difference is that extra 2 mph going to make in the long run?  It's going to get us somewhere, what,  30 seconds sooner, so that's going to change our lives?  Why do we always want to push the limits?

Mothers watch as their toddlers get closer to something they were told not to touch.  The toddler looks back to see if mom is watching as their hand is hovering over the forbidden object.  And then, just as expected, mom sternly says, "NO", and the child touches it anyway.

I watched, the other day, as one of our sweet little granddaughters started to go up our stairs in the house.  She was going very slowly, looking around for mom or dad because she knew she wasn't supposed to go up the stairs alone.  Her mom sees her, tells her "no" and as mom starts toward her to stop her I could see the grin come across her face.  The closer mom got, the faster she went. Not only was she doing what she wasn't supposed to do, she was giggling about it!

I can imagine Cain doing the same thing as he was gathering his offering, going about it with enthusiasm, thinking to himself what a good job he was doing, maybe even giggling a little bit.  He just couldn't wait to show God his offering....his goodness....his righteousness.  He couldn't see God's heart because he was blinded by his own righteousness.

I was doing one of my favorite things in the world to do the other day, which is sitting on my screened porch reading, pondering, and contemplating life.  I had left the screen door to the outside open because my huge polar bear dog, Cleopatra, likes to come in, flop down, let out a huge sigh,  spread herself across half the floor and sleep.  I saw her coming around the porch and it seemed she had a little perk in her step.  She jumped up on the deck, pranced through the screen door wagging her fan of a tail and stood there looking at me with those happy brown eyes.  She was so pleased with herself because she had brought me a gift. She had trotted up to my seat with her prize. I could see the confusion on her face as I screamed, jumped up off my chaise and chased her out of my screened room, with her tail tucked and  a deer leg jangling out of her mouth.

Although she had brought me what she considered her best, it really wasn't what I have in mind when I'm opening a gift.  And isn't that what our righteousness is to God?  He said it was "as filthy rags."  That doesn't mean like a dirty wash cloth.  No, this literally means menstrual cloth, or a cloth that has been wrapped around a runny, pustulous sore.  That's what our righteousness is compared to God's righteousness.  It is filthy, nasty and vile.  Even when we do our best and pat ourselves on the back for our righteous and noble act, it is still smelly and sickening in the nose of God, but a miraculous thing happens when we "do all things through Christ".  We please our Father.

Let's seek God's righteousness in anything we do, not our own because it's as a filthy rag....or a deer leg.



Isaiah 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;

Two Grannies and a Selfie Stick

Because my cousin likes to stop at such things as the World's Largest Ball of Yarn or The World's Largest Skillet, we had to leave early for our trip from Tennessee to Panama City Beach, Florida.  And by early, I mean, to put it in her words, "We leave at Minus Zero Dark Thirty." 

So, as I get out of bed and stumble through the room with my eyes closed trying to get properly dressed for our excursion, I realize I have ten minutes until "departure time." 

We begin loading up our essentials for the week, like ten outfits, seven pairs of shoes, a jacket for those freezing Florida nights and a jar of marmalade.  Since I'm short and she just reaches my shoulder height, we look like two Hobbits on an impending adventure with enough food to last until winter.

Our whole trip has revolved around taking a Selfie Stick with us to record our every movement. I know nothing about Selfie Sticks or how to use them, I didn't even have one and had to borrow it from my granddaughter, but we just knew that we couldn't survive the trip without one.  Hence, the
picture of  a selfie stick made by mistake because I couldn't figure how the goofy looking thing worked.

Once we had loaded the vehicle until there wasn't room for one more roll of toilet paper and we had Poppy buckled into the backseat, we were off.  A couple of hours down the road and we were ready for breakfast.  After slamming down eggs, toast, grits and pancakes, getting Poppy strapped back in, we were on the road....again.

We decided around lunch time we would just get something quick for the road and since you can't chuck a rock in the south without hitting a Krystal restaurant, we decided this would be the lunch cuisine.  We saw many signs for Krystals, tried our best to locate this connoisseur of bite size burgers, but nine hours later, not only had we not located one, we hadn't eaten either, but, hey, we did learn how to use a Selfie Stick during that time.

The ride down was beautiful, we saw some gorgeous scenery and decided to do our grocery shopping in the World's Smallest Walmart.

After arriving, getting Poppy to the room, and getting unpacked,  my cousin made us dinner and it was delicious!




Day One was quite exhausting, fun, full of random laughter and constant hunger, but in the words of my Daddy on one of our trips, "This was a good day."         And so it was.

What a Day That Will Be

Coming home is such an emotional and joyful time. Kids love coming home after school, dads can't wait to get home after a long day's work, and moms enjoy being there to welcome her little family home to sit around the dinner table and talk of all the experiences of the day.

It's also wonderful when there have been days, weeks and even years of separation from our friends and families that are a part of our church. We reminisce about the fun we've had in the past, we talk about what's going on in our lives now, and we talk of what our plans are until the next time we meet. It's such a sweet time. I just love to hear the words....comng home.

When I sat with my mom in her last days here on this soil and she was in that place between here and heaven, I would lean over close to her face and sing into her ear, " What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see. And I look upon his face"

.....and even though she couldn't talk or even open her eyes, I would see her lips start to move as I sang to her and knew that she was singing with me once again.

After my mom's passing, I kept putting off going through some of her things, but finally decided it was time to take care of what needed to be done. While looking through a box of keepsakes, pictures and little odds and ends that she had accumulated while in the nursing home, I came across her Bible. I opened it up and decided to page through it and read the verses that she had underlined.

I flipped it open and it fell to II Timothy chapter four. I glanced down the page to where she had underlined some scriptures and it was verses seven and eight. I was in a very raw and emotional state to begin with, but when I read the verses, I began to weep because not only was God using His Word to speak to me, but so was my mom.

The verses said, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

We all have so many loved ones that are waiting in anticipation for us to come home. They have seen the other side. They have experienced the walk with Jesus. They know the joys that await us. And they are standing ready for our homecoming. What a day that will be!

MAMA'S HANDS

                               

　
Her mama's hands were tender as she caressed the fuzzy head,
As she bathed, comforted and tucked the baby into bed.
She would smother those cheeks in kisses and leave little lipstick brands.
The infant loved the gentle touch of her mama's loving hands.

As the fuzzy head turned to copper curls,
And life became full of little girl giggles and twirls.
Toddling through the house and down the hall,
She holds tight to mama's hands determined not to fall.

Later on, the house is full of friends and of all the messes
that young girls make with makeup and princess dresses.
The girls made noises, they laughed, they played pretend
and mama's hands were always opened to every little friend.

The teenage years were full of sleepovers, cheering and boys,
but mama never complained of the activity and noise.
Instead, she smiled, laughed and understood
and made things easier as only mama's hands could.

As mama got older, her steps a little slower, her mind not as clear
she needed the daughter that she held dear.
She needed the help to do chores, make decisions and such
because mama's hands were not able to do as much.

While the daughter watched as her mama became small and frail
she would not leave her, she would not fail.
As her mama reached for her with her aging hands,
and held on with a strength the daughter could not comprehend.

The daughter began to softly sing to her the hymns of long ago
to ease the fear and restlessness her mama began to show.
She watched her mama's hands begin to slowly ease
as she listened to those songs of old, giving her sweet peace.

Her daughter had traded places with her mama that day.
and decided that beside her mama's bed was where she would stay.
She would caress her mama's graying head,
she would bathe her, comfort her and tuck her into bed.

On that last day of time here on earth, she kissed her mama's face.
She said goodbye and asked the Father for His loving grace,
She will know her mama is in the place called Gloryland,
and always remember the touch of her mama's hands.