Remembering Momma***

The Holy One calls to me this morning. Living with an aging parent marks the beginning of many “endings” for things we often take for granted.

When a cherished parent takes a turn from independence to complete dependency, it marks the end of a familiar and life-long structured relationship. The switching of roles is hard if not heart-breaking, yet it is the cycle of life that many will face with the passing of time.

The Holy Spirit has laced His counsel today with a powerful truth: “Don’t focus on where she is today. Look ahead to where she is going and what her glorified state will be for all eternity.”

My mom has reached the ripe old age of 93 and is in the sunset of her long and productive faith-filled life. She weathered many hard circumstances growing up in the depression. She was widowed during WW II and was left with a baby boy who would never see his father and then had to bury that same son after a sudden and unexpected death before his “time” in human terms.

She lost her 2nd beloved husband to the treachery of Parkinson’s disease and then after he left her side, she spent many subsequent years living independently alone but always in support of those she loves.

I was raised in the church and faith and my mom has always been a rock of emotional stability in my life when heartaches touched our family. As I went through some hard trials after leaving home and over the course of my own life, I always drew from her example and strength to press on and, in faith, to look for and always hope for better days.

To see the one who was always so “in control” of herself; the one who was a living example of grace under fire, slip into such dependency is among the most difficult things in life that I have had to process.

Relational losses happen in life. Divorce is hard but life goes on and there is a hope for what may be another relationship better than the one lost. Death is a final and difficult good-bye from here, but one where both the body and the soul are gone at the same time. Healing comes slowly as we live on and recall sweet memories and wonderful times with others who knew them too. But for me, watching the breakdown of the mind while the body is strong requires a better perspective than I can muster on my own.

There is a helplessness that overwhelms a sudden onset of geriatric confusion and as a child of a victim, I confess that the helplessness takes its toll. As with all the circumstances in my life, the Holy Spirit leads me into all truth and He takes me to His word to paint a picture of His message.

Each of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John tell of His resurrected life. Each speaks of the way that Jesus appeared to those who knew Him:

Matt 28:9-10, “And as they went to tell His disciples behold Jesus met them saying “Rejoice” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshipped Him.”

Mark 16:14, “Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.” (not the first time they had been rebuked by Him…LOL)

Luke 24: 31 and 36 “Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him: and He vanished from their sight.” “Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them”

Luke 24:39-40 “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle and see, for spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. When He had said this He showed them His hands and His feet.

John 20 has various verses of His interaction with the disciples who knew Him:

John 20:16-18, “Jesus said to her, “Mary”, She turned and said to Him “Rabboni (which is to say, Teacher”). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my Brethren and say to them that I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God”. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that He had spoken these things to her".

John 20:27-28, “Then He said to Thomas, reach your fingers here and look at my hands; and reach your hand here and put it in my side. Do not be unbelieving but believing. And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God”.

John 21:12, “Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast” yet none of them dared ask Him “who are you” ----knowing that it was the Lord.”

The wonderful picture for me today is not just the reminder of our resurrection life to come that Jesus modelled after His death, nor the make-up of His glorified body like the one we will someday have, but the picture for me today is that He was recognized as the Jesus that each one knew. The resurrected Jesus was the same “persona” as the Jesus they knew and loved in the flesh.

No wonder the Holy One is encouraging me to look past the fleshly withering because the flesh “withering” does not impact the soul. The body is destined to decay while our soul/personality is eternal, and designed to live forever. Momma is the same soul/personality as she has always been in the glory days of her fleshly control with a sound mind and she is the same soul/personality today as she will be when she inhabits her glorified resurrected body in the age to come.

With that as encouragement I can see to taking care of her earthly tent as it is folding and speaking over her the truth of her coming restoration. She is and always will be the Momma I have known and loved. It will be amazing to see her once again in her prime and with all the vitality of eternal vigor.

For the moment she is locked in a flesh and disintegrating earthly tent but there is a day coming when she will be set free from her earthly shackles and be forever young because of what Jesus has done for all of us.

Remembering Momma as she once was, helps me to look forward to who she will become again.

It must be stated that eternal resurrection of a glorified body is only promised and true for those who have come into a relationship with Jesus as their acknowledged Savior and Lord. Only those who believe that Jesus is the Savior Son of God and accept Him as their personal Savior and Lord for having died in their place are eligible for eternal life in a resurrected body. Jesus knows the heart of all of us and He will move heaven and earth to make each of us His own.

As I think about the natural process of aging and make my peace with the decline, I am also encouraged to think about the those who are physically and mentally “handicapped”. These are whole souls living in a broken body. They will be set free one day as well and all those believers in Jesus who have been their parent or care-givers will have the incredible joy of meeting that special unique person trapped inside the temporal broken body.

The long journey home, may take us through some dark valleys and difficult days but when we see our loved ones and their hard circumstances in the light of eternity, I admit, I cannot wait to get home.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?