A Christmas Like No Other

I Thess. 4:13-17 13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.fn
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

This is going to be a different Christmas from all others in my life. Last week, my Mom fell and received an excruciating pelvic fracture that only can heal through rest and time. I was with her when she fell and saw her go down. I ran to her but did not get there in time. Now her life, and indeed all of our lives, have been rearranged.

Mom always loved Christmas. When I was a little girl, she tried so hard to make it special for me and my two sisters. I will always treasure a special memory of the note she wrote me when she gave me my last baby doll. I was growing up, and she gently told me it would be my last one, though I was reluctant to leave childhood behind.

I was just starting to get into the spirit of things last week when I accompanied Mom and Dad on a trip to my sister's house, and it was on our way there she fell. At first I thought she was very fortunate, for she was able to walk when we helped her get to her feet, but it seemed that her pain only got worse and worse. It was not until we returned home that she got the XRay that confirmed she had a small fracture.

Now, Mom needs my help. It will mean travelling to her home and staying there and helping my Dad, at least until she begins to improve. The last two nights have been difficult when she wakes up in excruciating pain. Somehow, my zest to write Christmas cards and do more shopping has gone by the wayside.

But I have comfort, even in knowing that my parents are aging, and that one day they will leave us to carry on without them. Mom and Dad know the Lord, and I will see them when I get to heaven. Every morning, they have devotions together. They read from the Word and pray together. They didn't do that when we girls were little, but now it is their daily habit. They went from going to a ritualistic type of church to an evangelical one, and that didn't happen until we girls were grown and gone too. In fact, all of my family attends evangelical churches where the Word of God is taught. I am so thankful.

And so, I sit here and try to process what the near future holds for me. Mom's advice is "one day at a time," and I have to admit she's right. Jesus said to take no thought for tomorrow. My joy now is to see my own grandchildren and enjoy their delight in new life and adventures. The train of time stops for no one. One day, I will be in Mom's shoes, if the Lord tarries.

My comfort in all of this is in Christ, and that my family, whether awake in the Lord or asleep in death, will hear that trumpet call one day. Christ is the one thing that makes life worth living. Whatever hope do we have without Him. Current events, which seem to spiral downward in a vortex, faster and faster every day, make our lives uncertain, but Christ is our stronghold and our hope.

Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,
And the strength of salvation;
The fear of the LORD is His treasure. Isaiah 33:6

A friend of mine who lost her mother recently encouraged all her friends to spend Thanksgiving in gratitude with our parents, if we still had them. I never realized how timely her words would be. One day, it will be too late to show my gratitude to my parents. The time to love and help them is now.

Proverbs 23:22
Listen to your father who begot you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.

A Remembrance of the Passing of Time

"I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread." Psalm 37:25

While shopping for groceries today, I recognized a familiar face. I couldn't recall just where I saw her before. I thought for a little bit and then realized, it was the face of a woman who cashiered at our local Foodland,gone for at least 15 years now. I thought I might say something to her, but then thought better of it, thinking she would think I was crazy if I told her I remembered her from there. But on the next aisle, she told me that my face looked familiar. And so we had a pleasant chat. She still wore the same hairstyle, only time had worn her face, and I am sure mine looked aged to her as well.

When I shopped there, it was a totally different stage of my life: the stage of being a young mother with three hungry mouths to feed. There was healthy competition in our shopping district because we had two grocery stores separated by a discount store in between. I hunted out the bargains in each place for the best value for my growing family. The woman always worked hard at the store, I remembered asking her for rainchecks on items that sold out. She always wore a pleasant smile. Now, that store has twice been replaced, and soon will be vacant once again. Nothing comes to stay.

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1

Time... you see people and then you don't see them. We are mere shadows walking the face of this planet. I am ashamed to say I used to get inwardly annoyed with a man who took forever to get across the street with his cane. He and his wife always walked about the neighborhood together. Now, I only see her.

Surely every man walks about like a shadow;
Surely they busy themselves in vain;
He heaps up riches,
And does not know who will gather them. Psalm 39: 6

My father mowed a graveyard as a young man, way out in the middle of an Iowa cornfield, a version of a known epitapah appeared on one of the graves. As a young girl, I went down to visit that graveyard, entranced by the message on the old gravestone. My father, now an old man, can still recite the verse on the stone:

Remember this, as you pass by
As you are now, so once was I
As I am now, so you will be
Prepare for death and follow me.

Sobering thought for a child but now it has great impact as the years fly by. I "am" now, but my days are fleeting upon this earth. I need not get caught up in the cares and anxieties of this life, for it is just a fleeing shadow, real life begins where God is, not here on this planet. Although, right now, I have His eternal life by His grace through faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

As I face perplexing trials, I need not worry about tomorrow. I do not know where I will be tomorrow, but I can trust that my Father above will always be faithful no matter what I am going through.

"Behold, blessed is the one who God reproves; therefore despise not the the discipline of the Almighty, For He wounds, but He binds up; He shatters, but His hands heal. He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you. In famine He will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword. You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and shall not fear destruction when it comes." Job 5:17-20