A Gift of Time

Somehow when you are young, you are convinced that your parents are REALLY old. As you approach your teenage years, you wonder how in the world they found themselves out of the rain. As you continued to mature, you were amazed at the manner in which your parents’ intelligence has grown with leaps and bounds. How did they get so smart so quickly? Who knew???
Then, as if overnight, you look into the faces of your parents and think; they are too young to leave you. Where has time gone? It seems in today’s world “time” is truly something we feel there is never enough of it for us.
In a word search of the scriptures, I found that God has a lot to say about “time.” The word “time” is used over 771 times in the Old and New Testament. And, the words, “proper time” are used 11 times in the Old and New Testament.
As I studied the scriptures, it seemed to me that only God or Jesus deems what is “proper time” and what the Kingdom of God is like. In the 4th chapter of Mark, Jesus tells parables to explain what our future home is like.
Several weeks ago I received the call that no child wants to receive…my mom was very ill and I needed to come home. As I drove home there were so many things that God and I discussed in the hours in our time together. My hope was that it was not as bad as it seemed or sounded and that my mom would be okay.
When I arrived in Louisiana I found my mom “not okay.” She was not well at all and as I held her in my arms, I feared that she was leaving our family. My job assigned to me by my siblings was to be the “discerner.” My sister lives in Kansas and is a teacher. If mom was stable, my sister would not make the 9-hour drive home. However, the next morning when Mother was admitted to the hospital, I called my sister and asked her to come home.
My step-father was done. His strength and energy had long been expended from the care of my mother. My sister and I opted to stay at the hospital to give him a much needed rest. Once my sister arrived, my mom was thrilled to have her children (2 girls and 2 boys) there with her. Her health rallied and her joy seemed to gain with every conversation and every visitor. Over the next few days, Mom was quite the celebrity. Her sister came in from out-of-town; our son who lives within a couple of hours drive came to see “Mama Gal.” To our amazement the activity of family and friends seemed to strengthen her. She didn’t know why we were all with her, just that we were and she was thankful to have us there and the time to be together.
Mother was discharged after a couple of days stay and before midnight that day of her discharge, she was re-admitted through the ER. Again, we sent our stepfather home to sleep and my sister and I stayed with mother at the hospital. In the wee hours of the morning during this particular stay, my mother began to stir. I sat up in my chair to check on my sister who was sleeping soundly. In the stillness of the night I sat in my chair and watched my mom move.
At first, her hands went up toward the ceiling. I watched her with great interest as I did not understand what was she was doing Then, I realized Mother was worshipping. Her hands would go up as if to say, “I exalt You!” Then, her hands would come together as though she was praying and she would bring her hands down upon her chest to rest in the praying hands position. I watched for quiet a while and finally thought I’d check to see if Mother was awake. On tiptoes, I inched quietly to Mother’s bedside to see if her eyes were open…they were. She looked over and smiled at me. I asked if she were okay and she said that she was. I patted her arm and returned to my chair to watch Mother. Then, she began to gather from thin air what appeared to be strands of something. She would pull them together, braid them, and hold the item out to inspect her work and then she would smile with pleasure. Then, she would repeat the process over and over. Not being able to stand it any longer, I went back over to find Mother’s eyes open and her fully awake. I asked if she were okay and she smiled and said, “Yes.” Then, she looked down at her hands (she was holding something so precious) and said, “Look, Sandy, isn’t it beautiful?” I looked at her empty hands and said, “Yes, Mother, it is…but what is it?” Mother looked like I must be kidding and then said, “Well, Sandy, it’s praise!” She went on to say, “I love to praise God!”
Her words caught my breath and I sat down beside Mother on her bed and asked her to describe what she was seeing. She held “her praise” with such tenderness and began to describe what it looked like. She said, “Its dark emerald green and it has silver threads running through it. It shimmers with shiny lights. It appeared to me that she was holding almost a loop that had an opening in the middle of it. Because, Mother went on to say, “It has a hole in the center where a key fits and the key turns the lock in the door.” I asked Mother what was behind the door and again, she looked like I must be kidding and replied, “Well, Sandy, it’s more praise!” By that time, my cheeks must have looked like I had underground sprinkler system on full blast because my face was soaked. I looked over to see my sister awake and reaching across Mother’s bed to hand me tissues.
The three of us, my mother, my sister and me became lost to time. I remember thanking my mother for teaching me about Jesus. My mother humbly said, “Well, Sandy, that’s my job…that is what a mother is supposed to do.” My sister, mom and I spent the rest of our time together sharing our faith and letting each other hear from the other two how precious she was to the others. After a time, I asked my mom if she were tired and needed to sleep. She replied, “No, I have so much to think about.” After a while, she spoke, “I want you girls to know that my life as been like a journey down a road lined with flowers.”
There is no doubt in our minds that God gave the three of us (my mother, my sister and me) a “Gift of Time.” In the middle of the night, God deemed it a “proper time” for our mother to share her faith and allow us the opportunity to share what an impact she had made on our faith and in our lives. And, it was important for us to hear from someone who has seen what the Kingdom looks like. We believe that in that moment Mother saw a glimpse of Heaven and what praise really looks like.
There is a song sung by Robin Mark that I want sung at my funeral. The title is “When It’s All Been Said and Done.” The lyrics go like this…

When it's all been said and done
There is just one thing that matters
Did I do my best to live for truth
Did I live my life for You
When it's all been said and done
All my treasures will mean nothing
Only what I've done for love's Reward
Will stand the test of time
Lord Your mercy is so great
That You look beyond our weakness
And find purest gold in miry clay
Making sinners into saints
I will always sing Your praise
Here on earth and ever after
For You've shown me Heaven's my true home
When it's all been said and done
You're my life when life is gone
Lord I'll live my life for You

This Easter each of us have the chance to live a life that will stand the test of time. May each of us choose to believe that Jesus is truly risen from the dead. May each of us truly believe that Jesus prepares a place for us in His eternal Kingdom. And, may each of us truly believe that when it is all said and done, that we have lived for Him.
I believe that when it is my Mother’s “proper time” she will meet Jesus and hear Him say to her, “Well done, Good and Faithful Servant.”

“Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me
will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
John 11.25-26a