Sixteen Years Later

How quickly time passes. Yesterday marked sixteen years since the day my mother passed from this life into eternity. In many ways, it seems very long ago. After all, this is the fourth state I've lived in since that time! But sometimes it is still a very fresh memory. Hardly a day goes by that I don't think of her: remembering something she said; laughing at myself for doing the "I'll never do that" things she used to do; wanting to share something with her.

Sixteen years have passed, but I still miss her so much.  I miss the twinkle in her eye and that silly grin when she was trying hard not to laugh out loud. I miss her laughter and the private jokes we shared.

My mother was a tiny little woman, one who was often described as "delicate". But she was mighty in spirit, a strong-willed woman who loved her children and their spouses. Who loved her grandchildren. She loved her husband and was devoted to him. Above all, she loved Jesus!

One of the things I most remember about my mother was her love for her Savior and her love for God's Word. Even in the later years of her life as her health was seriously declining, her Bible was always next to her on the bed. She read it faithfully every day. One of my treasured possessions is a set of index cards with Scripture verses - the verses she had memorized - written in her own hand, well-worn from use.

I loved my mother. I respected her. I admired her. And I miss her.

Sixteen years ago, I watched my beloved mother take her last breaths in this life. It was a sad morning. A difficult morning. It was one of the few times in my life that I ever saw my daddy cry. It was on that morning, sixteen years ago, that I had to say to him, "It's over." Even now, sixteeen years later, that is a very vivid memory.

But it isn't over. Not really. Because there is the promise that we will see each other again. And though I still miss my mother so very much, I don't "grieve as those who have no hope." (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

Because "since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep."  (1 Thessalonians 4:14 ESV).

Until that day comes, I remember. And those memories make me smile.

 

 

 

"She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." (Proverbs 31:26-30 ESV)