In memory of Donna

My mother-in-law passed away this afternoon.  Her body had been failing for some time.  She couldn’t walk, could barely see, and had many other health issues.  She had been in a nursing facility for four or five years.  A born-again Christian, she had been ready to go Home for quite some time. 

She is now dancing in Heaven; I wonder if she has met my loved ones who have preceded me there? 

I loved this lady, who was also my pastor’s wife.  She had a sweet spirit, with a somewhat wry sense of humour, that she kept right up to the end. 

Before she went to the nursing home and before I was even dating Roger, there was some vandalism done at our church.  Months afterward, it was discovered that my son Nick, then about 16, was involved to a degree.  He hadn’t actually done any of the damage, but had knowingly accompanied those who did.  I was humiliated and appalled.  I felt as though I could never show my face in the church again.  Somehow I got up the courage to attend the following Sunday, but I pretty much sat through the service with my head down, not looking at anyone.  Immediately afterward, Donna came up to me with tears in her eyes.  She put her arms around me and said, “I’m so sorry that Nick was involved”.  There was no judgement or recrimination – she was simply sorry for both Nick and I because of the effects of his misdeed.

Nick ended up going to a juvenile facility soon after that day; not for the vandalism offense, but for other things that had occurred.  Donna never failed to ask about him and to send good wishes to him.  As a mom, that has meant the world to me, and Nick has held her very dear because of the love she showed toward him.

Even after Nick relapsed in later years, with the result of going to jail and then prison, Donna didn’t stop caring about him.  She was always interested in hearing about my other kids, too.  She would rejoice with me during happy times and commiserate with me about the less desirable things in life.  I will truly miss her.

It's winter!

Anyone living in the Midwest knows that it’s now officially winter.  Well, okay, not officially.  The “official” date on which the winter solstice occurs is 21 December.  But let’s not argue semantics.  The fact is, the wind has been gusting up to 50 m.p.h. today, with wind chills below zero.  There has been some snow; not a great amount, admittedly, but the blasts of wind have stirred up the snowfall to near whiteout conditions at times.  I’m sorry, but that sounds pretty much like winter to me, regardless of the date on the calendar. 

I went to St. Joe this afternoon, to see Nick.  After the visit, which ended at 6:30 p.m., my plans were to do a little Christmas shopping at Hobby Lobby, then on to a food store to pick up a couple of items for tonight’s (late) supper.   I did make it to Hobby Lobby, and had just started looking around when Roger called my cell phone (which was almost dead since I left it in the car while I was at the prison, and it got extremely cold…).  My husband, of course, was worried.  He urged me to get home before it got any worse outside.  After assuring him that I would be careful, I went back to shopping.  I did, however, cut my excursion a bit shorter than I had intended, because I really didn’t want to be responsible for causing him ulcers or apoplexy or whatever else.  I headed out to my car with my meager bag of purchases, stopped and cleaned off my headlights, and was on my way.  Or so I thought.  Can you believe I couldn’t see the exit back to the road from the parking lot?  After a bit of circling, the blowing snow finally cleared and I was again on my way.  Things were fine until I hit about the third stop light.  Oooh, that was a slick spot.  Thank goodness for anti-lock brakes, and even more – thank God for keeping the situation under control!

The highway, of course, was much better, and in fact, the farther east I drove, the less snow there was.  Being an old lady, however, I always feel perfectly justified in driving no faster than I feel comfortable with during weather like this.  In tonight’s case, it ranged from 40-50 mph.  Not that it was slick, but between the often severely limited visibility and the sudden gusts of howling wind, I just felt safer that way.  It wasn’t a bad trip, though.  I don’t really like driving in bad weather, but with God’s help, it isn’t really a horrible experience.  I keep the radio cranked up – either Air 1 or K-LOVE, and at those times, my entire world consists of the little stretch of highway right in front of me, and praise music.  Not a bad way to spend some time! 

Anyway, I made it home, and… well, here we go again with winter… 

And a little child shall lead them...

Kids are awesome.  I can’t believe that I just said that, because after all, I do work at Walmart, and every day I see short people that desperately need to be introduced to the rod that has obviously been spared in their lives.  But most kids have such a straightforward, simple way of looking at life and resolving problems.  No wonder Jesus tells us, “Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein”.  Luke 18:17

My grandson Damian will be five a week from Wednesday.  He told his mom that he wants a surprise party for his birthday.  When she pointed out the obvious (to an adult) fact that if one knows about a surprise party, it ceases to be a surprise, he wasn’t fazed.  His answer?  “Just don’t tell me when my birthday is, and then I’ll be surprised!”

How many ‘surprise parties’ has God planned for me during my lifetime that I have ruined because of a bad attitude?  To my shame, I can think of many blessings that could have been mine, but I had nothing but complaints about them.  They didn’t occur when I wanted them to.  I didn’t want this colour.  I wanted it over there.  I wanted it to come from a different source.  Why couldn’t I have had Damian’s attitude, and simply been open to whatever surprises God had in store for me, whenever He said it was my birthday, as I basked in the love of my family and friends?

I pray that God helps me to be more like a child in this regard.  May my eyes view God’s blessings with wonder, and may I always be grateful to Him for what He gives me.