Mom

I am not having a good day.

I know, we all have them, those days when no matter what we do, nothing seems to happen as it should, or we wish it would.  Days when we can't get out of our own way.  Days when we are ill, or unmotivated, or just plain at odds with the world. 

It's not any of those kind of days.

Today, I am sad.  Today, 5 years ago, on her birthday, my mother passed away.  I miss her.  No, she wasn't the perfect mother, but she was always there - no matter what.  She loved me.  She loved me when others didn't.  She loved us all.  I know she did, and I really miss her.

I am sad, yes, but somehow I need to 'get past that', but only in the sense that I also know something that makes me joyous.  My mother, in the last month of her life, came to understand and know Jesus as her Saviour and Lord.  As a child, my mother attended Sunday School and church - not so much as an adult though.  But we went from time to time, and I know she had a faith of some sort.  We never really discussed this, even when I became a pastor... until the first week she was in the hospital, the last month of her life.  We talked about faith, and heaven, and how she was just so tired of being sick and really wanted to rest.  We talked about God and what He meant to each of us.  She was ready - to know Jesus as Saviour, and to go home to be with Him in heaven.  She seemed... well, so ready, and in that time, I learned so much about what it means to long for home, for heaven. 

For that, I am joyous.  Still sad, but also joyous!

Someday, we will all die - that's the physical death we will all experience as humans.  But there is life after death, and not in some 'reincarnation' sort of way.  If we come to know Jesus as the Saviour of our lives, and accept Him as that, He has promised we will be with Him forever.  In other words, we will die on earth, but we will live forever in heaven with Him. 

Romans 6:23
The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus.

You see, the eternal life God gives us is free - we don't deserve it, we can't earn it, and we can't do it ourselves.  God is gracious to give us that gift of life, now and forever with Him - we just have to believe and accept Him as Saviour.  You might say it's not rocket science, so to speak - it's that easy.  God wants us all to live with Him forever - you, me, everyone - but it's up to each of us to make that personal decision for ourselves. 

My mother made that decision - almost 72 years after her birth, but in time to be able to 'go home' to heaven, to spend forever with the Saviour she came to know and love on her deathbed.  I am so grateful that God gave her and I the opportunity to share and for her to be able to accept the gift of life eternal.  After she became unconscious, it would have been too late.  After she died, it would have been too late.

If you are reading this now, it's not too late, because you are alive and able to understand about this amazing gift God is... well, just dying to give you!  If you don't know Jesus as your Saviour, know that He wants to have that relationship with you.  Know that He wants to spend forever with you.  Please know that.  And not only know that, but do something about that.  Talk to God about it, email me (pastor@mckernanchurch.ca), or speak with someone you know to be a Christian.  But please do it know, before it might be too late.  God so wants you to know Him, love Him, and spend forever with Him - my mother knew that, even though it took her almost 72 years to "get it", and now she is with Him in heaven.  For that, I am truly joyous!

I am not having a good day because I miss my mom.  But I wouldn't want her to be here, in physical pain, and not being in God's presence, just because I want her here.  She is with God today.  I know that. 

I guess I'm not having such a bad day after all...