Early Easter Sunday morning we got a call from my brother-in-law saying that my mother had suffered cardiac arrest.  She was in a rehabilitation center recovering from a minor stroke.  She went to bed in a good mood, having walked down the hall and fed herself.  She was moved from her private room because of a water leak and ended up with a very sweet young woman with cerebral palsy.  The talked and giggled until midnight.  She went to sleep and was sleeping peacefully when the nurse checked on her at 5:00.  When they returned at 5:45, she had stopped breathing.  They tried CPR, but it was already too late. 

It sounds so flat to say that she will be missed.  Of course, she will!  She lived a long and productive life, and death is inevitable for us all.  In her case, I am very grateful that she died at a hospital and not at home where her grandson or daughter would have found her.  I am grateful that she didn’t suffer.  She just woke up in Heaven, in time for the sunrise service too!  The very best Easter service of all, isn’t it?  I do hope that when my time comes that it will be peaceful too and that I will be missed and remembered.

This is one of the last pictures of her we took.  She was holding her latest great-grandson and singing “Jesus Love Me” to him.  She told him that she had sung it to all her children, her grandchildren and now to him.  A few hours she suffered a minor stroke that ended her in the hospital.  She was 88 years old.

The traditional Russian Orthodox greeting for Easter taught us by my husband’s Russian parents.

English: Christ is Risen

Response: Indeed He is Risen

Russian: Xris-to Vosk-rese

Response: Vo isti-nu Vosk-rese

I had a dream when I was pregnant many years ago.  I dreamed I was wading through a frightening, muddy swamp.  I could smell the rotting vegetation and I was afraid of what I couldn’t see hidden in the mud and water. In this swamp, I was fishing.  There I caught the most beautiful, shimmering rainbow-colored fish.  I turned and ran, carrying the fish with me, fighting my way out of the mud and weeds.  I felt like someone was after me, and I ran terrified. I awoke with the realization that there was hope. I never thought something so beautiful could come out of that painful, frightening place, but it did.  And God gave me the most wonderful gift!

I love Easter, and all it implies.  Love conquering hate.  Life conquering death. The purity of God’s love poured out for us, a sinful and ungrateful world.  Christ is risen!  He has conquered death!  He brings life into every circumstance.  He brings hope into the most hopeless situations because the veil that separated us from God is now torn.  We have access to the eternal. Not only that, but he actually loves us.  How amazing can that be!!

I truly hope you all know the Saviour whose resurrection we are celebrating!

Can you believe it?  This little two week old baby smiles!!

Another day of sick, not me, but my sweet husband.  I got sunburned at the Scottish Highland Festival in San Antonio.  The first outing for little Alexander.  Two weeks old and already he is getting introduced to men in kilts. I was definitely impressed with the Kebar Toss.

They picked up logs that were over 16 feet long and weighed around 110 pounds. They heaved them up to chest height and ran with them. Then they tossed them into the air in the attempt to cause them to flip over end and land at a 12:00 o’clock position. If the log didn’t flip, it was measured by how close it got to 90 degrees before falling back.  Amazing!

I entered the classroom Thursday morning to the singing of “Happy Birthday!” by 27 happy junior high kids.  What a blessing they are!  Several of them made cards or brought presents.  But I think the best thing was that my assistant brought flowers and a card.  I have know her for 24 years.  Her husband lived with us for almost a year before they married.  I was so sure we would be good friends.  It didn’t work that way at all.  She was always distant in spite of efforts to be friendly. She remained cool and polite.

Then this summer our principal told me that she was to help in my room.  Oh my gosh!  I was horrified!  I thought how could I stand a year of politeness and maybe criticism.  I wasn’t sure at all.  I asked for another person, but he was insistent.  So three-fourths of the way through the year, we are becoming friends.  It’s growing slowly, but definitely warm and pleasant.  I am amazed!  What a great present!

On the other hand, Nick is really sick. He didn’t even argue when I insisted he go to the doctor.  He is on antibiotics and should begin to feel a bit better soon.  He so rarely gets sick.  For that I am grateful!

I guess this is what happens when our family birthdays are so close together.  Celina got her call and a card, but not a blog.  Tonight I am reminiscing about her birth so now she gets her blog .  We had three children already and our youngest son was only a year old when our only daughter, 4 years old, began campaigning for a sister.  My response was that only God could give her a sister.  So she went directly to the boss. 

Every prayer at every meal was an opportunity to once again voice her request.  Every Sunday school prayer time and I am sure any other time she thought of it, she pounded the gates of Heaven for her sister.  This continued for years.  After three of them, her dad joined her, but his approach was directed more towards me.  I really did want another child, especially a girl, but we had had a baby die shortly after birth the year before our older daughter was born.  That still haunted me.  Honestly, I was afraid.  But love overcomes fear and with a 14 year old son, 8 year old daughter and 5 year old son, we added our little girl. 

And the sisters are still best friends!

Rachel was 16 the first time she went to Monterrey, Mexico.  She went along with a college mission trip during Spring Break to help paint a church.  Her mother wasn’t thrilled, but we had made the arrangement that she would trust our decisions concerning Rachel while she was living with us.  As she put it, “I always thought you’d be stricter so I wasn’t concerned.”  Well, we felt very secure about it, and she went.

Rachel came back totally in love with the city.  For the next three years, she had dreams of Monterrey although she did not return again during that time.  We all sort of understood that she would be moving there soon after high school.  I had expected her to go to college for a few years at least and pursue some sort of job there before moving.  That was not how it happened.  She just left.

How we worried!! And prayed!!  I am sure that first summer was hard. She ended up with an American family and was not able to connect to the culture as she wanted. That didn’t work out, but then in October she met Mauricio.  He became her guardian angel and soon her husband. 

The day we met him, Nick and I both were thrilled.  We saw in him the strength and kindness that would be a perfect complement to our girl.  We loved him immediately, and today is his birthday.

I’ve had a new twist on prayer time in the past month.  I could blame it on the baby, but it started a few weeks before he was born.  God has begun waking me up in the middle of the time to give me a quiet time for prayer.  This happened years ago, but I haven’t experienced it in a very long time.  Now several times a week, I suddenly wake up. 

This probably sounds normal except that I never just “wake up”.  I sort of “come to”  like a person coming out of a coma.  It takes me a good half hour before I make sense and two hours before I actually feel alert.  For these middle of the night rendezvous I am totally awake as soon as my eyes open.  I usually slip out of bed and go into the living room so as not to disturb Nick. I really enjoy these times, not just because of the prayer, but also because I feel God is actually summoning me.  What a concept!! 

So today,  I am really looking forward to church, more than usual.  I don’t think there will be any of that it’s-been-a-long-time-since-we’ve-talked clumsiness this morning. 

Have a great Sunday!!