Sitting next to her

Present

First...It's always nice when your husband comes into the bedroom early in the morning, quietly sits down beside you and then goes on to tell you that you actually almost killed the whole family as they slept last evening because you left the oven on all night from the batch of cookies you made at 7pm.

I've only been speculating but I'm pretty sure I can now consider it academic.

OCD. Cured.

Today was my day of the month to go see my girls at the Nursing home. I love them. Shirley and Mona are my pals there and I'm very concerned that Shirley is going to break a hip running to me when I get there and at the same time-LOVE IT so much.



I was sitting by Shirley today while we were singing and she was so excited that we had picked Victory in Jesus but a moment stopped me a couple of hymns before when we were sharing the song lyrics. Ashley was strumming to Amazing Grace and we happened upon this verse:

"Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace"

I was imagining that there was a time not long ago, when Shirley was my age and singing this song with a young family and a husband. And now, sitting next to her, realizing that this nursing home and her friend Mona and her hope in Amazing Grace was all she had left-It hit me.

A life of joy and peace within the veil.

That's what I have to count on. That is where all of the junk that plagues me now will fade away. It will be there that I will sing with Shirley while Mona belts alto and I won't have to leave at the end of the hour and there will be no sad goodbyes or loneliness or heartache.

My greatest hope is that until that time, I'm as classy as Shirley.  That if everything else is taken, I can sit contentedly in my familiar chair and clap at the idea that Jesus holds me and that my real life awaits just a thin veil away.