Faith is the personal reality of things we cannot see or touch but have a sure hope of in the future. When a person carries this hope around in their heart the evidence is always unmistakable, clearly recognizable by words and actions.
Mema is, and has been all of my life, a person of unshakeable faith and hope. She was raised in that kind of faith but it's more than a family hand-me-down like an outgrown dress or still wearable pair of shoes.
On February 2, 1995 she wrote about that hope we all have in Jesus. Since this is quite long I will divide it into three parts. She titled it "EVERLASTING TOUCH".
"The Everlasting Touch is the good life and I am thankful to have lived it with a wonderful husband for fifty four and one half years. He was a devoted Christian man and loved his family above all on this earth. He was a scholarly student of God's word, the Holy Bible. We learned much from his guidance and he counseled many people over the seventy four years of his life.
When we study and put it into practice, it is the good life. The precepts and principles from God make a person happy and free. Can't improve on them. Learning the first chapter in Genesis gives us a great beginning to learn of God's creation. I have known Genesis`1:1 all my life. We memorized it together and now in my later years at 75+, it still remains important to me and sustains my life in the faith of Jesus Christ and his church.
This first verse in God's Holy Word takes me to John 3:16. God SO loved that he provided all mankind with everything we need for the "Good Life"! It takes a lot of years of living to know by experience of God's love for everyone. Jesus loved us even while we were yet sinners. OH! but the love of God is the greatest life to live on his earth and in heaven.
I have never read the Bible through in my lifetime but have learned to study it from cover to cover and NO ONE can ever master its contents. Every lesson or sermon I hear just amazes me that although I have studied the Bible all my life, I still learn something new from every passage I memorized long ago. They are part of my life - renewed over and over again. The Lord's Prayer is one I learned from early childhood days and it still blesses me every day of my life. Jesus taught his disciples to pray and to me it is EVERLASTING."
One thing I feel I have missed out on is never hearing my Mom pray. The theology our family embraced from several generations back did not allow women to pray out loud when men were present. I'm not sure my grandfather or my father believed it was such a huge sin for a woman to pray out loud in the presence of men, it just was never done that I am aware of. So, I've never heard my mother pray. Makes me kind of sad because I am absolutely certain she would have prayed as good or better than most men.
I am thankful to my heavenly Father that all of my children, their spouses and their children have heard their mother and grandmother PRAY OUT LOUD IN THEIR PRESENCE! OFTEN! I am thankful that both of our grown daughters pray often in our family gatherings. In fact when we were all together for Thanksgiving dinner last year I asked one of the young granddaughters to offer thanks for our food. She honored my request with a sweet honesty that touched every heart, including I'm sure, the heart of the One to whom that prayer was directed. HALLELUJAH!
Showing posts with label the good life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the good life. Show all posts
Monday, April 4, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Chronicles of Amazing Mema #15
On Sept 23, 1994 Mom had a Mammogram which prompted her doctor to order a biopsy for her left side on 9/27. Then they decided to also biopsy her right side on October 4. The determination was that she had cancer in both breasts so on October 11 she had a double mastectomy. Six days later she came home from the hospital and began writing all of this in her journal.
She recorded the names of EVERYONE who visited her both in the hospital and at home with a note of what they brought, mostly the food! According to her journal she had 76 visitors, received 135 cards and 11 vases of flowers.
Her journal entry for May 30, 1996 is a testament to how she has survived almost eighteen years following breast cancer. I feel certain she was still celebrating her and Dad's wedding anniversary even though he had been gone almost 5 years. And, although she doesn't mention her surgery specifically it was obviously still a very present reality for her. Her words are also a testament to the lasting value of love, family and faith. She gave this the title - "OUR LOVING FAMILY"
"From the time our children were born, we never stopped caring or being concerned for their well-being. The older they grow we want all our dear loving family to be happy and well. We could never stop being concerned for them no matter where they are in the whole world. We never stop caring or taking them to God in prayer. I call all of them by name, afraid I will forget their names. I thank God I can still do that. They are our dear loving children until I'm gone to meet their sweet Dad, Harold Thomas Sutherland.
We have tried to give our family a knowledge of the GOOD LIFE, to make their own decisions about what is right and wrong. In our young years of marriage we had hoped and prayed for this even though we didn't understand it all until our senior years.
I'm very sure God has known our hearts from the beginning of our tender years of marriage because our life has been rich in love and devotion. We both learned that from our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Harold told me many times how his Dad and Mom taught him to work hard to survive. He did just that all his beautiful life. The best thing that happened to us was when we were married and had our family. They are our life, completely. We have tried to make every one in our loving family know heaven is our goal through faith in God, every day living and learning to be a genuine, whole person in Jesus Christ, following His example. A life of happiness and contentment is in store for all of us and the whole world."
On March 3, 2000 she wrote - "Into my fifth year since the DOUBLE WHAMMY and doing fine. Haven't seen a doctor in two years. Feeling really well and happy to be going about my business and taking care of myself."
In September of 2006 I came to spend a week with Mom. She had always been a very strong, decisive person and a leader in every way. During that visit I saw how the Alzheimer's was beginning to put her in real danger so I called the Rose and told her it was time for us to come. My sister, Phyllecia and her husband Bob and their family had done an outstanding job of assisting Mom as she slowly slid downward into a very different way of life. But she now needed someone living with her. We had talked to her about coming to be with us in Dallas, but that just wasn't an option she wanted to talk about. So, we sold out and moved in with her.
Now we visit her daily in the nursing home and still see and hear the spark that has always made her special. She is loved by all her family and everyone who has known she and Dad over the years. I praise God that we all are around her now in her final days, just as my Dad wanted and had requested of me. HALLELUJAH!
She recorded the names of EVERYONE who visited her both in the hospital and at home with a note of what they brought, mostly the food! According to her journal she had 76 visitors, received 135 cards and 11 vases of flowers.
Her journal entry for May 30, 1996 is a testament to how she has survived almost eighteen years following breast cancer. I feel certain she was still celebrating her and Dad's wedding anniversary even though he had been gone almost 5 years. And, although she doesn't mention her surgery specifically it was obviously still a very present reality for her. Her words are also a testament to the lasting value of love, family and faith. She gave this the title - "OUR LOVING FAMILY"
"From the time our children were born, we never stopped caring or being concerned for their well-being. The older they grow we want all our dear loving family to be happy and well. We could never stop being concerned for them no matter where they are in the whole world. We never stop caring or taking them to God in prayer. I call all of them by name, afraid I will forget their names. I thank God I can still do that. They are our dear loving children until I'm gone to meet their sweet Dad, Harold Thomas Sutherland.
We have tried to give our family a knowledge of the GOOD LIFE, to make their own decisions about what is right and wrong. In our young years of marriage we had hoped and prayed for this even though we didn't understand it all until our senior years.
I'm very sure God has known our hearts from the beginning of our tender years of marriage because our life has been rich in love and devotion. We both learned that from our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Harold told me many times how his Dad and Mom taught him to work hard to survive. He did just that all his beautiful life. The best thing that happened to us was when we were married and had our family. They are our life, completely. We have tried to make every one in our loving family know heaven is our goal through faith in God, every day living and learning to be a genuine, whole person in Jesus Christ, following His example. A life of happiness and contentment is in store for all of us and the whole world."
On March 3, 2000 she wrote - "Into my fifth year since the DOUBLE WHAMMY and doing fine. Haven't seen a doctor in two years. Feeling really well and happy to be going about my business and taking care of myself."
In September of 2006 I came to spend a week with Mom. She had always been a very strong, decisive person and a leader in every way. During that visit I saw how the Alzheimer's was beginning to put her in real danger so I called the Rose and told her it was time for us to come. My sister, Phyllecia and her husband Bob and their family had done an outstanding job of assisting Mom as she slowly slid downward into a very different way of life. But she now needed someone living with her. We had talked to her about coming to be with us in Dallas, but that just wasn't an option she wanted to talk about. So, we sold out and moved in with her.
Now we visit her daily in the nursing home and still see and hear the spark that has always made her special. She is loved by all her family and everyone who has known she and Dad over the years. I praise God that we all are around her now in her final days, just as my Dad wanted and had requested of me. HALLELUJAH!
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