He AND They Get Sweeter as the Days Go By

An old gospel song went like this: "He gets sweeter as the days go by; He gets sweeter as the moments fly; His love is richer, deeper, fuller, sweeter. Sweeter, sweeter, sweeter as the days go by." Seriously, the older I get and the closer I've become with my Lord, the sweeter and more peaceful is my journey. I'm consistently drawn to His Light. I'll be honest with you -- I'm so happy that the dark side of October 31st is over. Bring on the bright Light of Christ! Talking, walking and living in the Light is my number one priority. The more familiar I've become with THE LIGHT, the more I shun darkness of any kind!

Yesterday, November 1st (BTW – Happy November!!) was All Saints Day when we focused on saints. This tradition began in AD 609 and encourages us to remember and emulate our heroes of faith. So many devoted their lives to God and were Light-bearers of Christ. Many were martyred for their faith.

Today, November 2nd, is All Souls’ Day. Both of these days touch me so much -- two beautiful days of celebration. Those of us who have a relationship with Jesus Christ, look at death as leaving our “temporary” home on earth to go to our home sweet, eternal home in heaven. There are many who consider death an unpleasant topic and don’t even want to discuss the subject. But, my sweet mother-in-law gets it because she keeps saying "I want to go home!" She knows the joys that await her.

Here’s the positive way of looking at death. This earth has been our internship for heaven. It's the "holding room" for the ride of our life. You and I, and everyone we love will eventually die so then death had better be our friend and not our enemy. All Saints Day and All Souls Day offer us a wonderful, consoling and beautiful way of looking at death. On All Saints Day, we celebrate the glory of the saints in heaven. The Church teaches that everyone in heaven is a saint. There are many men and women, who are canonized (official) saints, and a special day is assigned to them. On All Saints Day, we celebrate everyone in heaven. Think of our loved ones who have died and gone to heaven. This is a chance for us to be happy for, and with them. They have no pain, no frustration, and all they know is absolute, complete peace and happiness because they are in the presence of God. We rejoice with them!

On All Souls Day, we acknowledge our loved ones who died and we embrace our memories with them and the great hope of meeting up with them in heaven. On this day, I purposely recall my precious grandmother who introduced me to my future husband, my firey-preacher grandfather, my angel mom, and wonderful dad, my beloved husband and so many others who influenced and impacted my life. On this day I get to admit that I miss them and I’m not even ashamed to shed a few tears for them. After all, Jesus wept over the death of His friend, Lazarus. I don’t shed tears because I lack faith or because my faith is weak. I shed tears because I miss them. It's okay. It's just temporary for me because I carry on with the joy of seeing them one day soon! I continue to let Jesus make sense of it all for me! How about you?

My Christmas Cardinals

After I had my moment of gifting my envelopes and sharing my heart with the family, my daughter remarked: “After all our gifts were opened with excitement and lots of silliness and laughter and oohs and aahs mixed in, It was always Papaw or Papa who reeled us back to the sweet and tenderness of what Christmas is all about. Now Nana is carrying it on for us. Thank you, Nana!” I knew that the changes I made were worth the effort.

As we “mature” we start to tweak some of our traditions and make accommodations for new ones. It comes with the territory of “Senior”! Rather than resisting the changes, I decided to take hold of them and embrace them. It seems “change” has been my life since the passing of my sweetheart eight years ago. I’ve become quite savvy at accepting change and doing my best to create moments right in the middle of it.

This was my year to make changes to my typical Christmas gift buying frenzy and transition to money envelopes as Papa and Granny did. What a relief it was instead of trying to find a gift that could be used or even wanted plus trying to keep within my budget where I wanted to always ensure spending the same amount for everyone. So that was my plan – an envelope with $$. But that plan became one of sweet sentimentality when I saw a little cardinal on a rooftop ornament and I thought about the object lessons of cardinals that have blessed me so much. It was a “kiss” from heaven that I could pass along. I bought 12 of those little ornaments.

Cardinals would be my theme for this year’s giving. I wasn’t even looking for a box when I found this one with Cardinals on it and I knew it would hold my gift bags that held the ornament and the envelope as well as a letter of explanation and Cardinal photo. One box went to my Austin family (that I hid under their tree when I was with them two weeks ago) and another box made its debut to my Frisco family on Christmas Eve. I share a portion of my letter with you:

Merry Christmas to My Precious Family…………………..
Of course, you know how much I miss Papa, and I know you do, too. I really try to keep his memory alive and it does stay alive when you all are worshiping God, playing and singing your hearts out, laughing, having family fun AND, of course, fishing.
This year’s theme is the “Visiting Cardinal”. I remember at my home in Tulsa, when, one morning I opened up the shades in my bedroom and there, perched on the fence was a beautiful Cardinal. And inside the bush were a mama and her babies. The Cardinal is said to symbolize hope, joy, health, rejuvenation, and celebration -- especially for those who choose to hold the Cardinal dear. It's said you're a special type of person who is willing to care for those in need, if you love the Cardinals. I love the Cardinals! On the day that the Cardinal appeared in my backyard, and many times since, I feel like it is a kiss from heaven to me. I like to think that my daddy, mama, grandparents AND, most of all, your Papa is sending me kisses from heaven, too and cheering us on.

I'm using the Cardinal as an object lesson to remind us to look for signs that remind us of sweet times, precious people and wonderful memories. I'm in good company in doing so. Jesus was the grandest storyteller using object lessons. He often used the objects at hand around Him to teach people about God and His Kingdom. When He was by a well, He used water. After He fed 5,000 people, He taught them about the Bread of Life. When He was on a fishing boat, He said the Kingdom was like a fishing net. He told His listeners to consider the lilies, the sparrows, and the hairs on their head. When He said, consider the sparrows, there were probably sparrows flying around. When He taught the parable of the sower, there probably was a sower in the next field where He was teaching. Jesus asked the disciples to remember Him as they took bread and wine at the Last Supper. The Bible is filled with visible reminders of God’s constant communication and connection with His people.

So WHY wouldn't we see a Cardinal and think of hope, joy, and celebration AND sweet loved ones that could just be sending their love to us in the most beautiful way? So, I’ve given each of you a little Cardinal to remind you of Papa and grandparents who are cheering you on from heaven. If one happens to show up in your yard, then remember to look up to heaven and say, “Thanks, God! I needed that. Hi Papa! Keep praying for me! I promise to catch up with you one day!”

This was my subtle way of keeping Papa alive, giving Jesus the credit for it all and, hopefully, leaving a lasting impression of Nana’s Christmas message! Now I’m already thinking about what next year’s theme will be because you’d better believe – I want to leave footprints and handprints of the ONE that Christmas and EVERYDAY is all about!

The Last Word....And Many More

Are you one of those who has to have the last word? If so, then you, at the conclusion of singing "Happy Birthday" to someone, added the big finish….”and many more!!" I’ve come to find those words reassuring, so I always sing “and many more” under my breath in hopes that my quiet wish might help to safeguard the birthday boy or girl’s longevity. I know it’s not a sure fire guarantee because life has taught me that “many more” is something we can never be sure of. So, each and every birthday we have with our loved ones is a gift. I realized this when my sweetheart received the diagnosis that changed his “many mores” to “one more.”

“No more” is a sad thought, and I suspect if you’re reading this, you understand what I mean. Even though their passing means our loved ones never grow a year older, however, to those of us who are still here on this side of heaven, their birthday continues to happen year after year. Though they’re gone, their birthday still belongs to them; and to us, there’s no such thing as “no more”. We’re still here on this earth to REMEMBER there will be “many mores”. I’m here to tell you – significant days like birthdays, anniversaries and other special celebrations means we still love our loved ones despite their absence. That’s one of the things I love about Facebook and seeing when people post about their loved ones – years past their “going home” date. They are fondly remembering.

So all of that was to give justification for celebrating the one man, the one love of my life once again – on this, his birthday. Our family celebrates each other’s birthdays by pulling out the “Special Plate” and telling the honoree what they mean to us. I’m looking up to heaven and singing "Happy Birthday....and many more" to my Sweetheart today! I'll let you listen in as I say to him:

“My Sweetheart, you are so loved, honored, respected, and admired by me and all those who know you. I’m celebrating you and the mark you made on so many lives, the least of whom is ME! I am more today than I could have ever dreamed possible because of you.....your relentless urging, pushing, prodding, and encouraging me to be all I could be. You have always made me feel beautiful -- especially when I didn't feel it. When I didn't believe in myself, you believed in me! I am so thankful for the amazing husband, father, and grandfather that you were. You always gave yourself so freely to so many. I will never forget the precious, caring and giving way you treated others. You not only opened the door to them, but you fed them and clothed them and tolerated them and gave them truly the Father's love. You really were a "life enhancer" and a beautiful example, on earth, of Christ's love. There's not enough room here to tell you how much you meant to me......but one thing's for sure.......you received your ultimate reward by getting to go on the fast track to heaven. My greatest determination is to be there with you someday and to get to have the ultimate in birthday bashes there! And, to all my FB friends and family -- YOU ARE ALL INVITED!!!

Oh, and by the way, maybe it's time you and your family have special plate days, too. For those here on this side of heaven. It is sure a confidence builder to those we love! And, maybe it's time to get out the special plate for your loved ones in heaven and reminisce and celebrate how they made in difference in your life. It will keep their memory alive, and bring gratitude back to those who helped make you who you are today!

Make Lots of Memories

I took Payton and Alexia to see their Great Granny today. When their home at Lake Keystone, OK was destroyed by a devastating tornado 24 years ago, my young son, who sold real estate at the time, found Mom & Dad a lovely home that backs to Page Belcher Golf Course. It's been a precious place of making many family memories. I remember Papaw (Great Granny’s husband – my sweet husband’s Dad), taking my oldest grandson out to the golf course with a little club to learn to hit the ball – at age two, we envisioned him being a pro-golfer one day – LOL. Of course, this is the only home that Payton and Alexia have ever known as Great Granny's, so it was so fun to watch them today, looking at the photos she has of them throughout her house.

And they were so pleased at how much they’ve grown, because they were able to guage their growth by being able to reach the chains on the ceiling fan or the doorway ceiling to her kitchen – which, now, is quite easy for Payton (Alexia still needs a couple more inches). And, of course, Granny gave them each $5. Her and Papaw were always known for giving a few dollars to the grandkids each time they came to visit.

I thought about the sweet memories we have all had of our precious loved ones, and those simple things -- the things that money can't buy -- that made them so valuable to us. The value of memories really does increase over time. I know it has for me. When we’re young and so busy raising our families, giving so much of our time to just making it through the days filled with so many activities and events, we don’t think about tomorrow! But, I promise you, you'll be so grateful that you savor the moments, embrace the details and cherish the times. How very quickly time goes by, and how very quickly our families grow up and out of our immediate attention. The trivial times in life become such priceless times, tomorrow. Embrace the times. Make lots of memories – tomorrow comes very quickly, and tomorrow what you did yesterday, will be the greatest treasure you own.