"Christ's resurection is the seed of promise. Our resurrection is the flower of fulfillment." It was only a tiny clipping from maybe a church bulletin but it stopped me dead in my hurried tracks. It was so small the tape holding it to the fridge was larger. Another raindrop from the storm trickled down my cheek as my mind raced through freshly planted memories.
It was Thanksgiving weekend and we were saying our goodbyes to my husband's mom & aunt. It had been a pleasant visit that just left you happy inside. We'd shared random thoughts and conversations between the interruptions of both women's dogs needing something or one of my children needing something else. I gave Aunt Pete a hug and she whispered in my ear, "I pray for you guys every day" as she kissed my cheek. She did this everytime we parted but today it reverberated in my heart because of so many deep needs & I answered, "Keep it up, Pete, we need them more than ever." She went on in her usual way to tell me things would be ok. Then she continued to tell me how she names everyone in the family everyday in her prayers, even Mookie & Precious, our dogs who had died years ago. I grinned & wondered how praying for dogs already in Heaven mattered but that was just like Pete to hold them close to her heart even after all this time.
Only a few days later, we received a call from Marty's Mom that a car had gone over the line & ran head on into Aunt Pete. She was now in Heaven with Mookie & Precious. While the words were still bouncing around in my head trying to find a safe place to land, she said, that the rest of the family would like us to consider taking Pete's house. I still couldn't grasp that she wasn't in it, let alone trying to take it. But now only 3 months later, I find myself standing in her kitchen & reading those precious words taped to her refrigerator.
I had just sent an e-mail to everyone whose e-mail I had telling them that our family had recently gone through a storm of losing Aunt Pete but that out of that storm a flower had bloomed and we were moving into a new home. God had to give me just those words knowing what I would read today about, "the flower of fulfillment". Aunt Pete's prayers are being answered even in the storms.
You see, one of our "random" conversations at dinner had happened between just her & I. She was telling me about Austin and how proud she was of him for all he'd been through & all he was doing. She loved working with those nearby foster kids. It pricked my lifelong dreams and I told her how as a little girl I remember sitting on the floor, crying for kids who don't have a good home. I thought then that I would have a big house with a wrap around porch and kids I'd adopted all over the place. She laughed and said, yeah, I would love to take kids in but I have to get myself well first.
After the phone call, Marty and I didn't really talk for 4 days as we tried to go through "normal" while we waited for his sister's return from Switzerland to have a funeral. Finally we found a moment & he asked the giant question. "What about the house?" This wasn't a simple move down the street. It was 2 hours away! I told him about the random conversation that I had with Pete at Thanksgiving. After a long silence of holding onto each other and finally really crying, Marty looked me in the eyes and said, "She's well now." Her house has a wrap around porch. We agreed to make the move.
Things have not been easy & that's another story but I needed a reminder and God knew it, so quite some time ago he drew Aunt Pete's attention to a tiny little piece of paper with a simple yet profound saying and she hung it on her fridge to be a message of peace to us in the midst of an intense storm. "Thank you," I said looking toward Heaven. "Thank you." There hanging at the top of the window was a suncatcher with a dove. It read, "My peace I give you."
God is so good.
It was Thanksgiving weekend and we were saying our goodbyes to my husband's mom & aunt. It had been a pleasant visit that just left you happy inside. We'd shared random thoughts and conversations between the interruptions of both women's dogs needing something or one of my children needing something else. I gave Aunt Pete a hug and she whispered in my ear, "I pray for you guys every day" as she kissed my cheek. She did this everytime we parted but today it reverberated in my heart because of so many deep needs & I answered, "Keep it up, Pete, we need them more than ever." She went on in her usual way to tell me things would be ok. Then she continued to tell me how she names everyone in the family everyday in her prayers, even Mookie & Precious, our dogs who had died years ago. I grinned & wondered how praying for dogs already in Heaven mattered but that was just like Pete to hold them close to her heart even after all this time.
Only a few days later, we received a call from Marty's Mom that a car had gone over the line & ran head on into Aunt Pete. She was now in Heaven with Mookie & Precious. While the words were still bouncing around in my head trying to find a safe place to land, she said, that the rest of the family would like us to consider taking Pete's house. I still couldn't grasp that she wasn't in it, let alone trying to take it. But now only 3 months later, I find myself standing in her kitchen & reading those precious words taped to her refrigerator.
I had just sent an e-mail to everyone whose e-mail I had telling them that our family had recently gone through a storm of losing Aunt Pete but that out of that storm a flower had bloomed and we were moving into a new home. God had to give me just those words knowing what I would read today about, "the flower of fulfillment". Aunt Pete's prayers are being answered even in the storms.
You see, one of our "random" conversations at dinner had happened between just her & I. She was telling me about Austin and how proud she was of him for all he'd been through & all he was doing. She loved working with those nearby foster kids. It pricked my lifelong dreams and I told her how as a little girl I remember sitting on the floor, crying for kids who don't have a good home. I thought then that I would have a big house with a wrap around porch and kids I'd adopted all over the place. She laughed and said, yeah, I would love to take kids in but I have to get myself well first.
After the phone call, Marty and I didn't really talk for 4 days as we tried to go through "normal" while we waited for his sister's return from Switzerland to have a funeral. Finally we found a moment & he asked the giant question. "What about the house?" This wasn't a simple move down the street. It was 2 hours away! I told him about the random conversation that I had with Pete at Thanksgiving. After a long silence of holding onto each other and finally really crying, Marty looked me in the eyes and said, "She's well now." Her house has a wrap around porch. We agreed to make the move.
Things have not been easy & that's another story but I needed a reminder and God knew it, so quite some time ago he drew Aunt Pete's attention to a tiny little piece of paper with a simple yet profound saying and she hung it on her fridge to be a message of peace to us in the midst of an intense storm. "Thank you," I said looking toward Heaven. "Thank you." There hanging at the top of the window was a suncatcher with a dove. It read, "My peace I give you."
God is so good.
RSS Feed