Goodbye my sister, my friend - Gale

Today, my dear friend of 33 years died suddenly.  Her name was Gale.  I had been the “older sister” to her and her three sisters for all these years.  That’s how it was and is – there was never a question.  We were always there for each other’s good times and bad times – we were friends – we were sisters.  Her life touched and ministered to hundreds of people. Her life had been hard, raising two children on her own, sometimes working two and three jobs to support her and her children.  Her deadbeat husband never cared.

Gale treated everyone the same – equally and kindly.  If Gale told you she would pray for you, you could take it to the bank and she would pray for you as if you were family.  Her arms hugged hundreds, if not thousands; her hands fed hundreds, if not thousands – sometimes as a caterer – sometimes just because there were hungry people that needed fed. 

Gale’s absence will leave a great void in the lives of her family and friends.  As is in the loss of any loved one, it won’t be the same without her.  She is irreplaceable.

My solace today and the peace that I find within my soul comes from the very comforting fact that Gale knew Jesus Christ in a very real and personal way.  He was her Savior.  When she fell asleep here on earth, it was into His arms she awoke with a smile on her face knowing that she had reached home – her final destination.  She had joined her mother and thousands of saints who had gone before her – she beat us home!   

Do we miss her?  Do we grieve?  Does it hurt?  Absolutely!!!  But again I must turn to my Savior for comfort and the word of the apostle Paul in Philippians 1:21 “for me to live is Christ but to die is gain.” And, again he reminds us who follow Jesus Christ “. . . to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord.” (2 Cor. 5:8)  Even though we are grieving for “our” loss, heaven is rejoicing in its gain. 

Many friends, family, and those whom we don’t really know, will come to offer us their sympathies and kind words and life will go on – it always does – and time will help.  But the best comfort through all the pain of loss is in knowing that we will stand with her, hand in hand, in glory one day praising and worshiping our Lord, our Savior, our God.  “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:18,38-39).  Goodbye, sweet Sister, sweet Friend - Gale.

Being Singleminded!

Chuck Swindoll, in his book, Quest for Character,  shared a “Psalm of Single-mindedness” written by Joe Bayly. Joe was indicating that as James says in his writings, we cannot be double-minded or we become unstable.  I’d like to share it with you and encourage you to make it your prayer, too.  I hope it blesses you out of your sox as it did me.  

Lord of reality

Make me real

Not plastic

Synthetic

Pretend phony

An actor playing out his part

Hypocrite.

I don’ want to keep a prayer list

But to pray

Nor agonize to find Your will

But to obey

What I already know

To argue

Theories of inspiration

But submit to Your Word.

I don’t want to sing as if I mean it

I want to mean it.

I don’t want to tell it like it is

But to be it like you want it

I don’t want to think another needs me

But I need him/her

Else I’m not complete

I don’t want to tell others how to do it

But to do it

To have to always be right

But to admit it when I’m wrong.

I don’t want to be a census taker

But an obstetrician

Nor an involved person, a professional

But a friend

I don’t want to be insensitive

But to hurt where other people hurt

Nor say I know how you feel

But to say God knows

and I’ll try

if you’ll be patient with me

and meanwhile I’ll be quiet. 

I don’t want to scorn the clichés of others

But to mean everything I say

Including this.

And I have added Amen!

If life looks cloudy. . . .

I finally cleaned the glass on the doors, today, that lead to the deck outside the dining area of our home overlooking the lake.  My 2 year old, adorable granddaughter, had spent a week with us and one of her favorite things to do was press her little hands (clean or dirty) and sweet cherub face against the glass.  She left Tuesday to return home to Virginia to her mom and dad.  I had wanted, for just a couple more days, to preserve her “presence” in our home and remember how tight her hugs are and how sweet her little kisses, so I hadn’t cleaned the marks from the glass. 

Today, as I sat sipping my coffee, looking out those same glass doors, I knew that if I cleaned them, the sun would shine in more brightly and the lake would look much clearer, so after a big sigh, I made myself get the paper towels and glass cleaner and clean the glass.

Isn’t it a funny thing?   Life is sometimes like that.  When there is dirt, smudges, and smears clouding our view of life, things don’t always appear as clearly as they should.  It then becomes necessary for us to remove what is clouding our vision or blocking our view. But sometimes we like to leave the dirt there, or the smudges, as a reminder – even if it isn’t a good one.  Once it has been cleaned, we see things much clearer and our perspective on life changes.

The next time you feel like life is really looking cloudy, maybe it’s just that the windows of your soul need washing – just like the glass doors.

“We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! I Cor 13:12