He's Still Here...

Good morning, Saturday! Its good to see you come around again. I'm not sure why that is, since we are now retired and every day is basically Saturday, but I guess old habits die hard. I remember during my working days that Saturday was the day I could have that second cup of coffee, reconnect with my children and put my house back in order. Those days were busy, interesting, difficult and  fun. All in all it was a great season.

But my life today is a great season also. Now I can enjoy that second and third cup of coffee every day. My house only needs to be put back in order after visits from our grandchildren; which lately have been all too few. But even grandchildren grow up. Someone told me that its ok that we have much less to do, since it takes much longer to do it.

Even in our season changes, our lives remain constant in the important areas. In the natural we grow weaker but His strength is made perfect in weakness. Our minds sometimes get a little forgetful, but we have the mind of Christ. In short, He has our back, even - or especially - as we grow older. It is so true that He will never leave us or forsake us. There's a song that says He didn't bring us this far to leave us. I like that.

The most important attribute of our lives though seems to strengthen and enlarge as old age comes sniffing around, looking for a place to creep in unawares. It is a thing called Love. God is Love. I, personally, have found that many of my black and white areas have become a little more grey these days. Not that I'm compromising, but  I can sense the Lord stretching me to see the big picture. He sees the totality of our lives, not just our current season.

I first learned this lesson with my own Mother. I had prayed for her for years, wanting to see her shouting and dancing across the altar, speaking in tongues and prophesying. However, when the time came for her to go home, I was amazed at the depth of her relationship with Jesus. No, that isn't quite right. What amazed me was HIS relationship with HER.

I heard her pray aloud for the first time in my life only a few days before she crossed over. But that last week of her life taught me more about the love and faithfulness of my Heavenly Father than everything I had heard since becoming a Christian.

My mom accepted Christ into her heart as a teenager and was sold out. However, when she married my dad, things changed. Growing up, my church attendance was normally on holidays and an occasional stretch of a few weeks during a revival, but Mom was a wonderful, loving mother who cared for her family through many hard years. She taught me the principles of God through her life and through her song.

Of course I would have loved growing up active in church and learning the scriptures. My life would probably have been easier had I come to the Lord earlier. I'm sorry for that. But my point is, she did not walk closely, but He never left.  He remained faithful to the end and in the end He came for her. There was no doubt about that.

A few days before she left us, she made the statement: "Jesus Christ has been a member of our family all these years and I didn't even know it."

He never leaves us.

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

John 6:37