Sorrow

Isaiah the prophet says this of the coming Christ: "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried". There is MUCH, much more than that in the amazing prophetic message of the suffering servant, but those are the words that come to me this evening.

My mother-in-law died this morning, and thus, it is a day of great sorrow. We knew this day was coming after the past 18 months of her life was spent in hospitals... frequently hoping she just might make it home, but then encountering set back after set back... today, she did make it home.

I think this new home will be completely unfamiliar, yet at the same time, a warm, inviting and fragrantly familiar place. She will once again dine and dance and laugh with joy. She was a gentle woman and after this incredibly long battle of hanging onto life, I am happy she can completely rest and feel relief and joy as never before.

Meanwhile, we will feel sorrow. We will mourn and grieve and remember. Isaiah reminds us, however, that Jesus bears that sorrow and grief and was the Only One to once and for all eliminate it completely on the cross. Of course the fullness of that elimination isn't ours to hold yet, this side of the veil. But, oh, it IS for those on the other side. Sorrow for them has passed. They know what we do not. Most of all, they know Jesus himself... in a wonderful, timeless way not bound by earthly perimeters.

Gratefully, our family has had many who have journeyed and prayed with us these many months. The past few days, they have willingly received a few cyber updates I have passed on. Words of encouragement and prayers matter. What follows is merely part of today's update with the news that she is gone.

Dear Ones,

As I was thinking about how to title this note, I was thinking about the concept of “commencement”. Dave’s Mom’s life on earth ended this morning around 10:15 am, but it is for her a commencement of New Life. I had a strong sense that she was welcomed into the arms of Jesus like a child who is so greatly loved that she has not a care in the world. Indeed, that is the case for her this afternoon. All fear, all pain, all unknowns are gone. Dave, his dad and his aunts were able to be at her bedside at the very end, and the other brothers were not far behind.

She was taken off of life support systems yesterday morning. That decision was very difficult, but they all had agreement about the timing. She rested peacefully from that time on with members of the family at her side round the clock. As you would expect, they are all physically and emotionally exhausted. Dave is grateful for your prayer support and said that he is more physically tired than anything. Once his mom died, he was able to pray with the family as they ushered her into the Kingdom of Life.

Finally I am adding a scripture from I Corinthians 15. It’s paraphrased in the Message which always seems to provide a fresh look at God’s word. May we all be encouraged as our futures are indeed in the loving hands of God. What follows reflects on the mystery of the Resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 (The Message)

⁵⁰I need to emphasize, friends, that our natural, earthy lives don't in themselves lead us by their very nature into the kingdom of God. Their very "nature" is to die, so how could they "naturally" end up in the Life kingdom? ^51-57But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I'll probably never fully understand. We're not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it's over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we'll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:

Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
Who got the last word, oh, Death?
Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now?
It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! ⁵⁸With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.

Thank you so much for receiving these messages from me, on Dave’s behalf.

The love, grace and shalom of Christ be upon you,

Andi