Mother's passing

Dear Family and Friends,
I want to send a short note before I go lie down to rest to inform you that Mother fell Tues. eve and broke the femur in her left leg. After determining that the extensive treatment that it would require, plus having to go to Wichita to continue dialysis, she made the decision to end her dialysis, knowing full well that this would be her ticket to heaven.

Wed. morning she called me early requesting my immediate presence at the hosp. When I arrived I found her to be awake but a little disoriented from the morphine. However, she was adamant when she asked me if I had “talked to the mortician?” Telling her it was a little premature, she was quite adamant that he had been in to see her, and that he wanted to speak with me. I told her this was quite impossible, as the mortician was in Wellington KS. She then said “Well, isn’t the funeral going to be on Tues.?” At this I couldn’t control the chuckle as I explained to her that we really couldn’t have a funeral till she had died. She seemed to clear up, and was herself. Anita and I later learned that she had mistaken her Dr. for the mortician. Thinking no more of it we continued plans to move her back to her apt, and calling in hospice.

When my niece Casie Katzer arrived at the hosp, Grandma told her that “I will be done with this by day after tomorrow, but Andrea thinks it might be longer.” We moved her back to her apt at the manor with Hospice care, and she remained clear and able to converse with family and friends till late afternoon Wed.

She regained enough awareness on Thurs. afternoon to realize that my sister Amy had arrived safely from Michigan; however, as the evening wore on she became quite restless, so the nurse administered pain medication to relieve her discomfort, enabling her to relax. Once beginning to do that she declined rapidly and at 5:45 when the nurses came in to adjust her, they told us to come into the room, as she was slipping away. We girls and our cousin Donna Gibson circled the bed and began praying, ending by singing the doxology. When we finished singing, she had slipped the bonds of earth passing away at 6 a.m. this morning—the day after tomorrow from Wed. and yes, the funeral is Tues. We will all be able to be there and celebrate her home going.

"DO-OVER"

Well it is the first of a new year. I went online to check my e-mail, and read my favorite blogs, and was inundated by adds for weight loss, articles of “starting over”, and on and on.
I am quite confident that there are people out there who are reading those, and profiting from them. My question is “What is it about a “new” year that is suppose to motivate us to do these things, when up till now the “old” year hasn’t?” What is it about “starting over “that appeals to people? Is life that bad that they want to start over? Are they that lethargic about their life, weight, appearance, relationships……. That they need a new start to motivate them to try to “get it right”?
Remember when we were kids and we would play games. If we made a mistake, we would call out “DO-OVER!!”, and get to start again. I think that a lot of people want a “do-over” on aspects of their lives; thus the push for change, renewal, and “starting over”.
After living for 52 years, being married for 31, caring for my 88 year old mother, I find that all of these articles and ads are missing the point. The ultimate “do-over” has already been done. After that everything else is sort of anticlimactic. Go ahead and try, you can’t top it.
God provided the ultimate “do-over” when he sent His son Jesus to die for us. God had been requiring sacrifice, and works to come into his presence, but with Jesus all that changed.
When Jesus came to earth, he provided us the ultimate opportunity to start over. Through his death on the cross he erased all our mistakes with his shed blood. He ascended into heaven and sits at Gods right hand interceding for us. All we have to do is ask him to forgive us of our sins, believe that he has done that and then confess his presence in our lives. It’s that simple; no sweat equity, no expense.
Where does the “new start” come into play? In Romans 6:4-5:

Well, then, we by our baptism were buried with Him in death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from among the dead by the Father’s glorious power, we also should live an entirely new life.
5For since we have become one with Him by sharing in His death, we shall also be one with Him by sharing in His resurrection. ASV

I’m telling you, it doesn’t get any better than this. Because this is the beginning of the beginning of everything else you want to change, alter, or transform about yourself. When you hook up with God, the change is eternal, and everlasting. It is also internal, yet reveals itself externally.

I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. 4He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” 5The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.”
6Then he said, “It’s happened. I’m A to Z. I’m the Beginning, I’m the Conclusion. From Water-of-Life Well I give freely to the thirsty. 7Conquerors inherit all this. I’ll be God to them; they’ll be sons and daughters to me. The Message

Now THAT is a “DO-OVER”.

Happy New Year!!!!!

We are looking forward to 2008 and here's hoping it brings
things that will make us look to the future,
things that assure us of our present,
and things that cause us to rejoice in the past!
Happy New Year!

Christmas past........

It’s Christmas Eve, the first Christmas Eve and subsequent Christmas Day that we have spent without both of our children here at home.
Mothers my age have to go on memories, because the future is uncertain, and the present is, well, the present, and therefore, what it is. But the past is ahh, the past.
Tomorrow morning when Roger and I sleep in, and rise to a leisurely day of resting, and napping, we will remember the fun times past of Christmas with the excitement, and fun of children in the house, and the anticipation that came with Christmas morning. The time Grandpa and Grandma Roseberry drove up from Oxford sooooo early in the morning that they woke US up with a bang on the front door all because Nic had groaned about knowing that when Grandma and Grandpa usually came for Christmas, “we have to wait to open presents till they get here”. Grandpa decided to surprise us all by being right behind St. Nick in arriving at the crack of dawn to surprise and laughter, and the opening of presents early.
We have wonderful memories to look back on. Many wonderful Christmas’s with both the kids at home, and all that it entails. Christmas’s when we went to the Grandparents, and spent time with Aunts and Uncles and cousins. The experiences are many and varied, but I believe all wonderful.
Many are the wonderful memories, and we look so forward to the years ahead when we will make many more.

The Snow Drift Outside My WIndow

There is a blizzard raging outside. Just ask me, I had to go out and clean off my car. Blinding, and it has been doing this since 9 a.m. this morning. We celebrated Christmas today, two days early, because Audrey and Ryan will be with his family this year. The weather is, if not perfect, the ideal day to celebrate Christmas.
There is this wonderful snow drift outside me office window, coming off the retaining wall. it appears to be floating over the edge. What is holding it up, I have no idea. I am sure there is some meta-physical explanation for it, but I don't care. When I showed it to Rog, I asked, "What holds it up there?" He responded he didn't know and walked away. I however stood there and looked at it, and took a picture to remind me of something I realized.
I admire people who spend thier lives dealing with infirmaties, hardships, and heartaches, and don't seem to be phased by it. I wonder sometimes what and how they do it. What keeps them going, getting out of bed every day to face the same things; i.e. "What holds them up?"
Many times when you ask them, they will convey a sense of "going on" that just seems to be in them. Others speak of God and a profound faith that enables them to endure. As I stood looking at the drift, and wondering what "holds it up", I realized the same thing that holds them up. The structure of who they are enables them to stand strong against the gravity of the situation, and many times who they are is defined by giving credit to God and his love for them.
I have people tell me a lot that I am "a saint" the way I care for my mother--hardly, if they knew of the discouragement that hits me some days, and the resentmentt that goes along with it, they wouldn't be nearly impressed, but I do "hold up", because I firmly believe that this is what God wants me to do and He enables me to do it. I know I certainly couldn't do it under my own strength. Someday, looking back I will probably realize the "gravity" of the situation and realize even more that I didn't do anything in my own strength, but by the strength of the Spirit within me.