GOOD-BYE, UNCLE HERMAN

My last living uncle, Herman Lambert, passed away last night, surrounded by his family at the hospice facility where he was residing following a fall. He had been in declining health for the past year. He was 87 years old.

His family was with him in the hospice facility, and they got to tell him good-bye "until later." He was my late mother's last living sibling--there were ten of them. Clark and I will be traveling to the funeral, which will be this Saturday in North Carolina. As far as I know (some of them died many years ago), all of the brothers and sisters are now together with our Lord.

Uncle Herman was always so cheerful! Although I didn't often see my relatives much growing up because of Dad's military career, Herman loved to tell stories, entertaining young and old alike. He was always humming some tune or other, or singing as he worked in they yard, and he and my mother were close in age (he was three years younger) as well as in friendship. Until this past year, he played the guitar in a group of his cronies who got together regularly to make music and fellowship.

Please remember in prayer Aunt Betty Ruth, cousins Teresa and Gary, the grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

The pictures below are from my mother's funeral in 2013:

L to R: Uncle Herman, wife Betty, my cousin Kathy;
my brother Steve and I are on the back row

Herman regaling us with one of his stories

With our daughter Bethany

With our daughter Holly

TWO YEARS

Yesterday, January 8, marked two years since my mother's passing.  Time does heal, but thankfully, it does not take away precious memories!  The purple iris was one of her favorite flowers, and I can't see them without thinking of her.

All of us do miss her--I especially miss our talks, and I knew I could tell her just about anything.  She WAS MY MOTHER, and I suppose one does not really appreciate what a blessing is until it is no longer there.


Oh, I appreciated my mother and all she had done for me, or so I thought.  Now, as I look back, I wish I had spent more time with her in those final days.  Of course, we didn't know exactly when her time would be up--we knew it was coming, but not when.  The most beautiful thing about her death is the fact that she was a Christian, and she knew where she would spend eternity--in heaven with the Lord.

I posted the comments below yesterday on Facebook in regard to her passing:

On Saturday afternoon, Jan. 5, I visited her, and we spent several precious hours talking 
and reminiscing--it was like she was her old self again, and said she felt great. I think the 
Lord gave me the gift of that day with her since she had been in and out of the hospital for 
several months. The doctors had told her there was nothing else they could do for her. 



Then, the nurse called me Monday morning and said Mom had taken a turn for the worse. I 
went over and stayed with her all day, and the nursing home staff came in and out to say 
their good-byes to her because they knew she didn't have long. That was a very difficult day 
for me. Clark and I went back Mon. night--she was barely conscious, but she did know us and tried to talk. She died Tue. before I could get over there. 



We will see her again!

SHOCK, SORROW . . . AND REJOICING

"The point of this post is to remind all of us how quickly our lives here on earth can draw to a close.  Personally, I will strive even more to avoid taking my loved ones for granted."

Yesterday, I attended the memorial service of a gentleman who died suddenly, leaving his family in utter shock.  He and his wife are members of our Sunday School class, and they were present last Sunday, sitting right across the aisle from us. 

Monday morning, he was gone.  There were some tears at his service, but as friends and family spoke of him, there was also laughter.  Always ready with a humorous jibe, Ron often brought a smile to those around him. These fond memories will sustain his loved ones in the coming months and years.

He had suffered an aneurysm late Sunday night, went into surgery Monday morning, and never came out.  His wife of 41 years had told him beforehand that he would probably be on a ventilator for a few days, then in the hospital for about a week. 

I remember thinking last Sunday that he seemed more quiet than usual--I glanced his way several times, and he was simply not his usual jocund self.  Strange how one looks back at such thoughts and wonders about them.

The point of this post is to remind all of us how quickly our lives here on earth can draw to a close.  Personally, I will strive even more to avoid taking my loved ones for granted.  Ron was a Christian, and according to the Bible, he was instantly in the presence of the Lord:  "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8).   He woke up from his surgery all right--to find himself in the presence of His Savior, Jesus Christ.  What a wonderful and glorious moment for Ron!

The hope and promise of his family is that they will see him again when they themselves reach that heavenly gate, as his wife and grown children are all professed Christians as well.  The blessed hope of the believer in Christ is that we will be with Him in eternity--and our loved ones who also knew Him will be waiting there for us.  What a comfort that is.

I have known those who scoff at such beliefs.  I can only feel sorrow for them; after all, as a believer, what do I have to lose in the next life by believing in Christ?  Nothing, but everything to gain.  What does a nonbeliever have to lose in the next life?  Everything.  Why gamble with one's soul?

As stated earlier, life can be gone in an instant, as was the case for Ron.  He left behind his greatest legacy:  a family who is prepared to meet eternity.  There is nothing in this life more important than preparing for eternity--not wealth, not possessions, not power.  We will simply leave them behind, gathering dust or be passed to someone else, since we will no longer have need for them.  But making certain that we have a place in heaven with the Lord is THE most urgent point in this life.  I am thankful that, at age 28, I accepted the Lord's free gift of salvation, giving me eternal life.  The only thing I did to gain it was to believe in Christ and accept His free gift:  "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved . . . Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:9-10, 13).

I did nothing to earn it, for as stated in Ephesians 2:8-9:  "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith--and this not from yourselves.  It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast."

Today is Ron's birthday, and he is celebrating it with the Lord.  Because they miss him, his family will be sorrowful today and many days ahead--but they have comfort in knowing that they will see him again in eternity.