Two months ago today I asked prayers for BEA, my "adopted mom" who was struck by a car. Yesterday, the Lord took her Home to Himself and her suffering is over, for the Scripture says "Absent from the body, present with the Lord" regarding those who have had their sins forgiven by the Lord Jesus Christ. I will MISS Bea, of course, but I am happy for HER, you see.
There is SADNESS, yes, but I am "looking up" as this photo (I think) from many years ago expresses so well...
Below is a drawing I did for Bea 14 years ago when she was having major surgery for cancer. The Lord spared her life, gave her 14 more years and she lived to the ripe old age of 91!! The Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher in my drawing ALSO expresses how I feel right now...SAD, but "looking up." Bea had a long and basically happy life, though she never had kids and I was really like a son to her.
Bea is the THIRD different "adopted mom" of mine who passed away, and who I've written about, in this past 10 months (see my blogs for March 9th and April 3rd, 2018.) And frankly, it has made me wonder why I've had so MANY "adopted moms," is there something WRONG with that?? For, you see, when THREE come to light within a year, it's a cause to PAUSE for a little reflection.
Perhaps my preoccupation comes from once being a fervent Catholic, I have wondered.
See, in the Catholic church, Mary is venerated as almost being a "Fourth Member of the Trinity," (Lol), and until I began to really examine Scripture, and learned that she herself confessed to being a sinner (Luke 1:47), I really believed she was the Perfect Mother. (In the Gospels, yes, Jesus HONORED Mary as a good Son would, but He certainly never treated her like an equal member of the Godhead!!)
When I got saved and left the Roman Catholic church, did I miss MARY as my "Perfect Mother," and seek to fill that void with "adopted moms"?? It's a valid question.
And the answer is NO.
In Mark 10:28-31, Jesus promised that those who "leave all to follow Him" will receive "brothers and sisters and mothers and children" (among OTHER blessings) to make up for what they left behind. In my case, among other things, when I left the Catholic church in 1975 to follow Christ and His Word, I left behind the "Perfect Mother" who was never REALLY what the Catholics teach. And, the Lord has Providentially given me a succession of OTHER imperfect moms to fill the void....especially since my REAL mom died many years ago. (Note: in that Mark 10 passage, there is no mention of FATHERS being given by the Lord as a compensation....only MOTHERS!! Did the Lord anticipate that Catholics who converted would feel the need of MOMS More?? We can't say for sure, but......Hmmmm.)
Then, of course, when Jesus was on the cross, He appointed someone to be a son for Mary and take HIS place in her life, as He was dying for the sins of all who believe, John 19: 25-27. He gives SONS to adopted moms for the MOM'S sake!!
Yes, the LORD gave me Bea, and the others, as a reward of His Grace to ALL of us. And now SHE (Bea) is receiving HER reward (again, only by God's Grace) of eternal life because of what Jesus suffered on that cruel cross.
I will miss Bea, but, one day I will see her again in Heaven....not because we have earned it, like the Catholics taught us (Bea was an ex-Catholic ALSO), but by the grace of God in Christ ALONE!!
Amen.
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