Comfort of God Faves

It's Friday.

and for those of you who don't know:  my mom died suddenly and unexpectedly Wednesday October 24th.

So last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I was in the Central New York State area helping my sisters and dad plan a wake and funeral.

However, during this horrible week of no sleep, driving back and forth numerous times from my home in the capital region to the central part of the state where I grew up, and trying to keep my 13 year old on her school schedule and figure out how our college daughter was going to get to and from Boston, the Lord brought some comforting moments and people and things into my life. I'm went back to work on Wed and getting back into the routine was a little tough but there were blessings to be found in that, as well.  I will turn those things into "faves" and  share how God blessed me even while dealing with the sudden sadness and loss of a parent.

So...here's my Five Faves to share with you and if you want to join in on this creative writing experience with other bloggers head over to Susanne's site to read the rules and link up!

MY FIVE FAVES

My parents' church in a small town, central NY state

• CELEBRATION OF LIFE SERVICE:  my mom didn't want an open casket or a fancy funeral. Neither did my dad.  He wanted to keep it simple.  We had it in the church they've attended since 1958.  The body of believers there did a great job from the music team, to the mens quartet singing a special song, to the hospitality team for putting on the luncheon.  What a blessing it was to go back to my childhood church and see some of the old saints (and many new!!)  rallying around my dad with prayer support, comforting words and friendship.  This meant a lot to my sisters and I. My sisters and I helped Dad plan the service with her favorite portion of Scripture, favorite classic hymns, and my brother in law sang and played the guitar for a special solo.  I felt a lot of peace in singing the old hymns and being back in my childhood church.   Mom would have wanted a salvation message so the pastor worked in the salvation message into his tribute to Mom. MY childhood pastor shared some memories of Mom as our 2 families were close...and still are! The picture above is of the current Free Methodist church in town although I grew up in the one on the park which was later sold in the 1980's.  Click here to read a tribute to my mom and see a picture of the church I grew up in from my birth in 1959 until I graduated from college in 1982. Even though I am a part of an Evangelical, multi-denominational church now, my roots are very strong in the Free Methodist upbringing that I had. I am blessed to be a part of a large body of believers who are friends for life.

image taken from berkshirelinks.com

• SAFE TRAVELS:  as soon as Dad called me Wed afternoon, I knew I had to drive out to the central part of the state to help him with the arrangements. My sister Joy went with me Thursday and our other 2 sisters met us there.  Meanwhile, my youngest daughter had to come home from school to an empty house so I was thankful she was safe until my husband got out of work. On Friday, Claire went to school, Dave headed out to the north shore of Boston to pick up our oldest from college, and I headed back out to my hometown for the wake.  Dave picked up Courtney (a 4 hour trip), came back here to our house, picked up Claire, and drove another 2 hours to the wake.  Then of course we both had to drive our cars back later that night after the wake and getting Dad settled in his house. Repeat this on Saturday (but with just the one car) and then Dave had to drive Courtney BACK to Boston on Sunday morning and turn around and come home.  All with Hurricane Sandy warnings. The blessing?  Being safe on the roads with all that driving.  God is good.

• CARDS, CALLS, CO-WORKERS  I was overwhelmed with the outpouring of concern and care that our friends showed us.  Dave and I have received several cards in the mail (as shown in the pic above) along with text messages, FB comments and emails expressing that prayer is going up for my dad and family.  We have felt those prayers!! Even a couple of blogging friends have left me messages.....this has meant so much to us.  My co-workers bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers in some of my favorite autumn hues along with beautiful cards.  That totally surprised me on my first day back this week. My good friend Erin, (we live in the same town and used to go to the same church) surprised me by attending the service on Saturday. She drove out to my hometown which I couldn't believe!  It was very comforting to know that one of my adult life friends was there for me. She isn't a relative or hometown friend and I don't know if she even ever met my mother so this was really special to me that she was there for me and Dave. We were very touched. (THANK YOU, ERIN if you are reading this!!)The blessing of friends and acquaintances is truly a gift from God.

flowers from the special ed team

Me with my friend Donna (l) and Cheryl (r)
Childhood friends since 1965!

• CHILDHOOD FRIENDS: The woman on the left is my friend Donna....we started out as best friends in our kindergarten days way back in 1965. Our houses were in back of each other's, separated by a patch of woods. We used to go through those woods all the time from kindergarten til 6th grade when she moved across the river to a different school district.  The woman on my right (Cheryl) and I have been friends since 2nd grade in 1967. She and I walked together every.single.day (unless sick or my mom gave us a ride...which was rare!) from 2nd grade until our senior year of high school! We have remained good friends, keeping in touch at Xmas, birthdays and now with FB. They are both still living in my hometown area and surprised me by attending my mom's wake, and the next day's life celebration. What a blessing to have these 2 long-time friends in my life.

image taken from airmiles website

• COMFORTING SCRIPTURE:  One day, while I was home using my bereavement days, I turned to the Source of our strength.  God's Word. The Psalm that my Bible opened to was Psalm 116. I began reading it and verse 15 jumped out at me. (see pic above). This really brought comfort to my aching heart. What a blessing it is to have the Word of God to turn to in good times and difficult days.

That wraps it up for me. There were so many other moments in this whole ordeal that should get a mention of God's blessing:  my dad's next door neighbors who showed up with huge platters of food for us after we were working at the church and funeral parlor going over the arrangements last Thursday. What a blessing to have food for Dad that we didn't have to cook and that my sister and I could eat before driving back to the Capital Region.  They have been keeping an eye on Dad as well, and  on the house.  All of my relatives, some whom I had never met (my mother's side of the family wasn't close to us), some whom I hadn't seen in YEARS......and some of my dad's relatives...all these people coming to help celebrate the life of my mother.  My small group friends who texted me and called me asking if there were things they could do/things we needed;  my neighbors and their prayers and support to help with Claire if we needed it; a text from my pastor's wife saying she is praying for my dad and family.....so many other little things I just can't remember.  Faith in God, Family, Friends.......True blessings in a difficult week.

Have a good weekend, everyone!