Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Happy Birthday Maw Maw

I am going to see my doctor this morning. I wasn't supposed to go until early April but ever since the fall I took back in February my knee is still not what it should be, therefore, I suppose I need to get it checked. My doctor can be a little abrupt. I can just hear him saying, "Okay, let me see if I've got this right. You fell and hurt your knee on February 17th. You have pretty much been in constant pain and after sitting for any length of time your knee stiffens and it's hard for you to immediately walk. But today is March 26th and finally the light went off and you decided to get it checked out. Is that your story?" I do have some well rehearsed answers but I doubt he will be buying too many of them. I'm still thinking a bad bruised something or other but we will see. Meanwhile, I've got my two and one half pages of notes on the diabetes front so it should make for an interesting morning.

Today we celebrate the memory of my wife's mom because it is her birthday. She passed on to the other side a number of years ago. What a remarkable woman she was! She was what is called a stay at home mom, a pastor's wife, and a woman who wore her faith like it was her everyday clothing. She loved Gospel music, good preaching, and spending time with her family. She was also a one of a kind human sewing 'machine'. There's not much she couldn't figure out how to make. She was a hand quilter and during her lifetime she made literally hundreds of quilts. She was also a writer. She wrote poetry and we are blessed to have volumes of her work. She loved game shows and always wanted everyone to win something. She had problems sleeping at night so she would listen to cassette tapes of Gospel singing. Her favorites? The dozens of tapes she had of her own children and grandchildren singing songs that thrilled her night after night.

She was plain and mostly in the background most of the time. She was a very simple cook who loved variety in putting meals on the table. You never knew exactly what she might be serving but you always knew there would be lots of different dishes to choose from. She battled serious health issues from her teen years forward but she never complained and always kept on keeping on. God blessed her with 81 years and when she passed away the local newspaper said she had been a homemaker. Wow! That she had been and so much more.
God has been so good to me in giving me such wonderful women in my life. I was close to my father-in-law and my mother-in-law. I was saved under the ministry of my wife's dad. Of course they raised up the woman I married and they stood by us through thick and thin. I can still vividly recall the very last conversation she and I shared just two days before she was called home. It was a happy time of banter and expression of caring and love. She had a quick wit about her and I pause today to thank God one more time for her many contributions to my life. The good news is that I will see her and all those in my family whose faith secured them a place in God's presence. I don't know if they use quilts in heaven, or do lots of needlework, but I can tell you this, if they do she is up there running circles around everyone else. Amen. .........More later.

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