My little addition to Our Daily Bread (10/22/11):
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. …
Therefore encourage [or comfort] one another with these words.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13, 18 [with footnote] HCSB)
A couple days ago, I was flexing my vocabulary and speaking with a coworker about the sudden chill in the air by saying, “It feels autumnal.” In a joking reply about my use of such an uncommon word as if it were inappropriate for the workplace, he reacted with a feigned shock and said with head shaking, “And you kiss your mother with that mouth!?” Memories of mother were brought back to mind that made me miss her anew. Reading these verses and the reminder Jennifer Benson Schuldt wrote in today’s ODB just reminds me to count my blessings. I know my mother’s faith and so I know that though she has been gone from this earth for over a year now, she is not gone. She has simply gone on ahead and we will be together again. Just as our Savior has promised to “prepare a place” for us, I like to think she’s helping with that preparation to crochet some cozy afghans and spectacular doilies to make the place prepared for her dear ones a bit more like home.
While we are separated for now, I do not miss my mother “like the rest,” and the hope Paul wrote about here is not a mere wish. It is a confidence from knowing that Christ has done everything He promised and will continue to do so. Whether what “I like to think” about Mom helping with preparations is true or not, what I know is that I will give my mom a hug (and kiss with a new mouth) again in the proper time.
- Andy Jentes
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