Marvin T..1932 and then..1954
Like Father...Like Daughter

Sheryl 1956

He Leadth Me Beside Still Water

I wrote across the big wall

He Leadth Me Beside Still Water

...that was how I started the painting.

One Sunday afternoon in 1997 my mom ask me if I would paint the wall behind the baptismal in West Decatur Church of Gods new building. It would be 15 feet high and 30 feet wide.
And I said

Yes

...without my usual hesitation. I don't know why I felt sure about doing it when I had NEVER painted anything that large. But there it was...YES. Mom said she would donate the supplies and I said I would donate my time and talent. After I bought my supplies...8 tubes of paint, some brushes, and a car wash sponge (used it the most) we set off for the church. When I arrived I found my Uncle Wayne already set up scaffolding so I could get up high and paint the sky. I am leery of heights..but for some reason I felt safe there.

The first thing I did before I started was ask my mom to go to the alter and pray with me.

I prayed that God would use me,
my mind, my heart, my hand to do this painting.

That His blessings be upon this.

I prayed there would be peace and light coming from this painting.

That was the ritual for every time I painted there. We were usually there on our own...some people stopped by, aunts and uncles, curious workers. But for the most part we were alone in quiet....me praying and painting, Mom reading her book or making helpful comments.
Dad would come by and sit and watch sometimes too. Making sure we were safe. I remember the last night it was after midnight and Dad drove all the way out there to check on us. Mom and I were late because we were admiring and marveling at how it had turned out.

I know God guided my hand.

It only took 6 days...36 hours to paint.

Now whenever I see that painting which has peace and light I remember it all started with the words that are wrote beneath it...

He Leadth Me Beside Still Water.

I love this picture of Mom and Dad watching me paint.

I am so glad Uncle Gene took this photo.

A New Year Sign

I believe there are often signs around us and we are too busy to notice. We hurry on our way and miss those little things that God places in our path. Others may notice and think that it is just coincidence. But for me, when I see it....when I notice it...when I realize it....I am in wonder that God has placed before me a sign. He cares for me.

This morning was a freezing cold January morning. I thought of staying at home and not going to church. But this is the first Sunday of 2010. I did want to start it out right. So at the last minute I called Mom to make sure she was going and then I got ready and picked her up.

Once I got there I was glad I went. This was the place to be as I prayed for my friends and family. This was the place to be as I thanked God for the blessings in my life.

Half way through the service the pianist started playing a song. Mom nudged me and nodded her head. There it was....the little signs that I love....

With all the thousands of songs there are, the one being played was my dad's song. "What A Day That Will Be" On this first sunday mornig of 2010 we felt that Dad's spirit was once again reassuring us that all is well. It brought a smile to my lips and a tear to my eyes because I felt it was a special moment of wonder.

Later as the preacher got up and started his sermon I reached inside my purse and pulled out a small index card that I keep in my billfold. I wanted to show it to Mom. This one had been beside my dad's chair and it had his writing on it. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

Just as I was showing it to her the preacher said "I want you to turn in your Bibles to Philippians 4:13." Yes, there it was.......the same verse I was holding in my hand.

I believe in signs. I believe in wonder. I believe I am loved from above.

I'll Be There

I Wrote this on May 5, 2001

I was sitting in church Sunday morning, thinking about and praying for my parents. I realize that in my mind now they are Mom/Dad. As I grew up they used to separate, Mom and Dad. They were separate in their lives, in their activities, in their interests. And even sometimes they were separated from each other.

Now in their 60's they are together. I can't imagine one without the other. They depend on each other. My prayers for them come together. I place them both in God's hands. My concerns are for both of them. As I pray, one of my Mom's favorite songs in being sung, "Jesus, there is something about that name". My tears start to flow. And I leave the church as the sermon is beginning.

I want to talk to God on my own. So I head for the lake. I plan to sit on a hill and watch the water. I will pray for Mom/Dad. I know God will meet me there.

When I arrive at Nelson Park I get my pen and paper to take with me. (It's easier to keep talking to God as I write.) Then I go look for the right spot. I want a spot away from everyone on a hill over looking the water. I walk to a tree and the thought comes, "No, not this one." I continue on to another tree a few yards away and still the thought comes "No, not this one." Next I even try a picnic table. "No, not here", the thought says, "I need to be sitting against a tree." So to a third tree I go. And this one feels just right. I sit on the ground against the tree. There I start my prayers for Mom/Dad. I tell God how inadequate I am to take care of my Mom/Dad. How it worries me to see the decline of their health. I let the tears flow. It is what I need to do.

And Then...God said, "I love you. I was waiting for you. I'll be there." How amazing God is to me. How did God speak to me? How did I know this? It was there in the form of a 4 leaf clover. Yes, a 4 leaf clover. I am always looking for 4 leaf clovers. As a child I learned this special past time from my Dad. When I was waiting for the man of my dreams I looked for 4 leaf clovers. And he came. And we married. As we looked for a new home I looked for 4 leaf clovers in the yards of the homes we looked at. I had a feeling my home would show itself with this special token. And it did. We have lived here for 25 years now.

And now as I ask God for guidance He showed me that He was listening and He was waiting for me. As I left the church God must have been saying to my heart "Go and I'll be there." He had a special place waiting just for me. And a special way of letting me know "I care for you." Each time I almost stopped at the wrong place God would lead me to another spot until I was where He wanted me to be. Seeing that 4 leaf clover I immediately knew God was there. Amid my tears there was now also laughter. How thankful I was to have been lead to a spot away from other people as I cried and laughed each time I looked at that 4 leaf clover.

As I got ready to leave I picked my 4 leaf clover. And then God reassured me that He is with my Mom and Dad for nestled there together were two more 4 leaf clovers, one for my Mom and one for my Dad. I looked to see if there were more but there weren't. These three 4 leaf clovers were meant just for us.

I got the release that I needed and a sign that everything really is in God's hands. He let me know "I'll be there" anytime that I need Him.

Merry Christmas from Heaven

"Merry Christmas from Heaven"

By John Wm. Mooney, Jr.

I still hear the songs

I still see the the lights

I still feel your love

on cold wintery nights.

I still share your hopes

and all of your cares

I'll even remind you

to please say your prayers.

I just want to tell you

you still make me proud

You stand head and shoulders

above all the crowd.

Keep trying each moment

to stay in His grace

I came here before your

to help set your place.

You don't have to be

perfect all of the time

He forgives you the slip

If you continue to climb.

To my family and friends

pleace be thankful today

I'm still close beside you

In a new special way.

I love you all dearly

now don't shed a tear

Cause I'm spending my

Chrsitmas with Jesus this year.

Remembering Nov 26, 2008

The day before Thankgiving 2008.
So this is how I remember it...and never want to forget it. Hopice had been called in after Dad's decision to go off dialysis after 10 years. I feel being able to make this choice was a good thing. It enabled family and friends to come in and tell Dad they loved him. He was the oldest of 10...so all his brothers and sisters came in. There was a constant flow of people into the house during this time.
It had been 7 days and Dad was so ready to go. He wondered why the Lord had not taken him yet.
On that last morning mom and I lay talking in bed for a little while after we woke up. It was just after 7 and we decided to get up and check on everyone. As we walked into the bedroom Dad was sitting on the edge of the bed with Marvin and Steve watching over him. He ask for a sugar cookie and ate it. His shoulders were dropping down like a heavy weight. When asked if he were ready to lay down he nodded his head.
He had been hot and I ran to get a chill pillow to lay under his back. As we laid him down Mom and I were on one side, Steve and Marvin were on the other side. It took all of us to lay him down.
I think he only took 2 or 3 breathes after that. It was actually a perfect moment. With wife, son, daughter, and first grandchild being present with him as he left this home. He went so peacefully with us at his side. Mom felt he was waiting for us to get up from bed so he could go.
I remember Mom saying he's not breathing, and I knew in her heart she wanted to help him. I remember Marvin letting out one sob, I remember Steve being at Grandpa's feet, and I remember praying aloud, "Thank You Jesus for coming to get him...this is what we were praying for." And then I started singing "What a day that will be when Jesus I see, when I look upon His face the one who saved me by his grace....when he takes me by the hand and leads me to the promised land, what a day, glorious day that will be" Later, as we made funeral arrangements I learned that was the song Dad requested for his funeral. I didn't know that when it came from my heart in song....I am not a natural singer and really do not remember words to songs...this came from above.
As the four of us sat by Dad's bedside Dohe, Dad's little dog, jumped up on the bed and he looked up at the ceiling and he smiled (Dad taught him how to do that) We all saw that and it was amazing. What did Dohe see above us?
My first call was to Stan and then to others and each time I would tell them that my dad saw the face of Jesus at 7:30 this morning.
And that song "What a day that will be..." came from me all day. I was rejoicing that my dad was no longer in pain. He was ready...He was sure....He knew where he was going.....As he told each one of us that he would be holding the gate open for us when we got to heaven.
In the moment Dad stopped breathing in this body I felt he was recieved above, met at the gate by those he loved.
When Cindy got there she ask me how I could be so happy. It was because I had never had more faith than I had at that moment in my life. I believed that my dad was in heaven, he was made whole, he was not tied to an old tired sick body anymore.
From that moment I believed....
because My Father had told me so.