Since last Thursday I’ve been sharing a vigil beside my mama here at Moore Regional Hospital as her Earthly body is shed and she is re-born in Heaven. A blood clot has fell her after all else has not. (My 2 brothers and my sister and I take turns spending the night and sitting with her) She is a strong woman of faith and her heart is strong. Last Friday morning til Sunday she labored hard to breathe, but has settled into an overall peaceful sleep since.
As a Stephen Minister it is such a blessing to be the recepiant of many kindnesses and much tender care. Family has slipped in and out to say goodbye, neighbors of my sister and brother drop in to express their concern, sweet phone calls/messages from my friends lighten my day, nurses go beyond the call of duty, all goodness that is precious and sweet.
Sometimes I find I need a break from caring visitors, so the Lord provides that as well. (I tend to get cranky from tiredness, the waiting, and too much going on that might agitate Mama)
I confess I have wanted the Lord to take her home quickly, have prayed that prayer more than once lately, am quite convicted in the last day or two that His timing is perfect and His plan is the best plan. So, I’m trying to wait on Him to comfort Mama and to work out His plan for her.
Before closing I must say a few thing about my mama. She has been such an amazing woman and a powerful influence on all of us children. She has been a stalwart believer in God, family, education, and owning/being a good steward of land. She has loved poetry and has been impressive in her ability to recite poetry even in the dark night of Alzheimer’s. She loved to read, to write, to quilt, to sew, to garden, to look after her hens when she had chickens, loved her cats, loved to sit with her mama and 5 brothers and discuss who was kin to who, and what were they doing, etc.
She dreamed of college but could not afford it so urged me to get my degree. Her desire was to go to art school but wasn’t able to do that, therefore she instilled in me a love for art. She became a beautician, then later worked in the Aberdeen Post Office. She taught Sunday School and was excellent at it. She was president of the church women’s group numerous times and enjoyed doing that.
One of her great loves was her home church, Cypress, and always looked forward to Homecomings, the Harvest Sales, and reunions there. She will be buried in the Cypress graveyard besides my daddy and near most of her beloved family, but she will not dwell there, and neither does my daddy, praise God. They dwell in Paradise, where she will join them:)
“Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future.”