Thoughts from the funeral

Mom's Service

My mother passed away peacefully at home on March 4.  Dad and all her kids were there with her.  My younger sister, Barbara, arrived just 30 minutes before she died.  It was a blessing from God for all of us to be there with her.  Barbara and her husband Cam had a very difficult time getting there from Michigan at all.  The roads were icy and there was a 20 car pile up that delayed their start that morning.

That she held on for everyone to be there shows her determination.  That God made it possible shows his faithfulness.

The last year had been very bad for her.  She spent 90% of it in doctor's offices, hospitals and rehab facilities with one problem after another.  I spent many hours with her in these places and they are not where either of us wanted to be.  I had seen more than I ever wanted to of hospitals, doctor's offices and physical therapy recovering from my motorcycle accident in 2008.

She took all her meds, kept all her appointments and worked on her therapy.  Nothing really improved though.

I shared the following thoughts about her diligence and God's faithfulness at her service.

Gospel of John Chapter 5

The scene is a pool of water where the sick and crippled go for the chance to get healed.  The tradition is that the first person in the pool when the waters are stirred will be healed.

Among the crowd is a man crippled from birth who has been coming there for a long time.  Either he drags himself there or is carried there by family or friends.  He's been coming for a very long time.  Next time you're getting impatient waiting in the doctors office think about this guy.  If you can believe it, health care back then was even worse than today.

One day a perfect stranger walks up to him and asks what appears to be a really stupid question.  "Do you want to be healed?"  The man answers "Yes" and goes on to give what sounds like an excuse.  In fact it's not an excuse at all.  Just a statement of fact.  "When the water moves someone else always gets in before me."

This guy reminds me of mom's determination to recover. 

I imagine he wanted to give up many times and just stay home and give it a rest.  Maybe watch Judge Judy, or Days of Our Lives instead of hanging out at this place with a bunch of other sick people.  He kept coming back though.  Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.  And nothing improved.

But he was in position for something to happen.

And it finally did happen.

Look at the exchange between him and this stranger.  His responses affirm his desire to be healed and acknowledge his helpless condition.  The best he can do is to get himself into position to receive God's grace.  He can't do the last part.  He's helpless.  But God is willing to do what man cannot.

I saw that mom did everything she could and God granted her a peaceful passing with her family.

So what I take away from this is that we should apply ourselves as much as possible in all respects and trust God to provide the rest.  If you're a student, then study as much as you can and trust God for the rest.  If you're old and your health is failing, go to the doctor(s), take your meds, do your therapy, eat the right stuff, even exercise if you can, and then trust God for the rest.  If you're a parent, provide the best environment you can for your children, love them as much as you can, and trust God for the rest.

When we do our part, God is faithful and will do his.