Life & Death - The Unstoppables

Way back in the day President Benjamin said "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."  I am going to beg to differ with Pres. Ben.

  

In the present day I say, "Death and taxes will haunt us forever but if we look around, "life" abounds.

Quote me if you must.  You have my permission.

Death AND Life.  Both inevitable.  Both unstoppable.

My "hot babe" mother-in-law, Mary, as I have always referred to her, left us this past week.  She suffered, but not to the extent of others I have known.  

She left us in a sweet peace.  

I was on the verge of getting upset with God over this as I watched her lie there and suffer day after day.  Like "I" can somehow control God if I choose to.

  

Not going to happen.

Mary is 75-years-young in the photo above.

The day before He took her I heard the songbirds singing early in the morning.  I have only heard the songbirds at certain times while in extremely dark places in my life.  It is like God is telling me, "Everything is going to be alright."  

And most of the time it is.

My "go to" passage is I Peter 5: 10-11 for those dark, dark times.  "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen."

God didn't take her on the day I heard the songbirds.  He waited until the next day.  That special day was "her time" that God had set for her as He formed her body as he prepared her for life.

Do you remember how He creates us?  It is totally cool and blows me away every time I think about it.

"For you created my inmost being;
 you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
 your works are wonderful,
 I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

Psalm 139:13-16

Before any of us ever knew Mary, while he was forming her body for life, He decided the date that no one or no circumstance would ever change.   

Death is unstoppable. 

God spoke through James to tell us we are nothing but a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  He was not kidding around when he said this.  No matter if we have been blessed to have had 50 years or 100 years with someone we love, it will never be enough time.

Never.

Death is unstoppable.

In the midst of Mary's dying there was living all around as Spring was busting out. The azaleas were in full bloom in North Carolina.  I was told the blooms last about 3 weeks but normally there is a frost that takes them early.  There was no frost this year.  The azaleas rocked it.  The other flowers followed suit.

We had the bluest skies, the clearest air and the most beautiful color at every turn.

Caldwell County Hospice House where Mary took her last breath

In the midst of all the sadness LIFE continues.

Spring is in the air and and all the beauty that it brings when nature’s dead  returns to life. 

Life is unstoppable.

God created both death and life.  While he was preparing to take Mary's body into a journey of death, he was preparing Mary's great granddaughter, Zoe's, body into the journey of life.

A beautiful new life that God created for us to love.

   

Zoe with her great grandmother Mary

God somehow knew that a brand new life with this heart-melting smile would ease the pain just a little bit.

Zoe arrived and she isn't afraid to let you know that yes...

She. Is. In. The. Room.

My hot babe mother-in-law lived 81 years.  

A long time but not long enough for those who loved her.  

She looked better than I did.  Somehow that just doesn't seem fair, does it?

  

Once when she was buying a cup of coffee with her OLDER sister, the clerk automatically gave her sister the "senior" discount.  Mary had to "ask" for the discount but the clerk really didn't believe her.  She almost had to produce her I.D. to get that cup of discounted coffee.

Mary at her 80th birthday party in 2012

I am going to miss my hot babe mother-in-law.

In the end, death will be stopped.  Yes, one day death will die.

Nothing is forever except Life.  You heard me right.  

LIFE is unstoppable.

There will always be LIFE.  Know why?  All because of our sweet Baby Jesus.  ALL because of Him.  

He is just that awesome.

Now go hug your mother-in-law if you have a good one.  I know, I know you may have a baaaad one.  They are out there.  I know.  I have seen them lurking in corners haunting their daughter-in-laws.

But maybe, just maybe a hug could turn things around.  I will keep my fingers crossed for you.  

Thanks for stopping by

Donna

xo