Death Was Arrested

Isn't it weird to look at pictures of your parents when they were little?  It's hard to imagine mom or dad. running around, playing with their siblings, hanging out with friends, carefree.  Oh, they tell us the stories-"When I was young, my brothers and I rode our bikes everywhere." "I tap danced on a riverboat in St. Louis!" "Your dad and I weren't allowed to date during basketball season." Occasionally,  we'll see a glimpse of childlike playfulness while  they remember, or when they stop to play with their own children or grandchildren.   But it's difficult to align the parent we know now with the child they once were. 

 My mom, Beverly, was born on March 12, 1951.  I know that because she told me, Grandma Quigley confirmed it.  :)  She had 3 brothers, a mom, a dad, they lived on a farm.  She met my dad sometime around 1966, they dated until they married July 12, 1969.  Dad was drafted into the army shortly after they were married.   They spent time apart.  They spent time at a base in Arizona.  Mom came home, Dad went to Vietnam.  I only know all of this because I've heard the stories and I've seen some pictures.

I think my mom would say she had a good life.  She loved my dad and her children.  She loved her family.  She loved her friends.  She liked her job and she loved her church.  She was mostly healthy and happy and active.  Mom and Dad liked to travel, even if they didn't go very far.   Some of this I know because she told me, some because I've heard others tell it, and some I know from looking through pictures and seeing her expression in them.  

 

On May 25, 2017, my mom started a life without us.  One that I can only imagine.  I wish I could hear her stories, see her expression as she experiences her new life, a life promised to her by the only One who can make and keep such a promise.  My mom suffered terribly with her illness, absolute torment.  But on the morning she died, my dad and I sat beside her and, although we couldn't see it, her mourning ended and her feet rose to dance.  The life she lives now is just as real as the life she lived.  I don't have to be there to know it's happening.  1 Corinthians 15:22 says that our human end is death, but in Christ we are made alive again, if we belong to Him.  Matthew 22:32 says God is God of the living, not of the dead.  Revelation 21:4-5 promises that Jesus will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.  All these things are gone forever.  Jesus, the one who arrested death, says "Look!  I am making everything new!" And then he said, "Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true." 

So although I don't have pictures or stories from Mom about the life she's living now, I know she's living it because she trusted in the One who tells the truth.  In fact, her life has just begun!