I’m sure.

Dad and Mom lived in four homes during 50 years of marriage: a newlywed bungalow, their bring-the-babies-home house, their larger place, and a downsized-ranch. Mom loved being a homemaker, and when Dad (13 years her senior) suggested a retirement community, she wouldn’t hear of it.

Later, when he died after only two weeks warning, Mom clung to their home like it was Dad himself. Being without him was heartbreaking, but it focused her attention on life after death like never before.

She told us about the night she was out watering her garden near midnight when she heard footsteps approaching. “Were you afraid?” I said.

“Actually I was hoping he had a gun and would do me in,” she said. “Then I’d get to be with your father.” She was only half joking.

Not long after that, Mom fell and broke her hip badly, requiring surgery. She had great confidence in the doctor, a family friend, but was secretly hoping the O.R. would be her launch pad to heaven. But the surgery went flawlessly, and Mary was there to tell her about it when she came out of the anesthetic.

Still groggy, Mom’s first word was, “Carl?”

“No,” Mary said. “It’s just me.”

Mom pulled the covers over her head and burst into tears, realizing she hadn’t ended up in heaven after all. Days later, well on the way to a full recovery she said, “I gave God a perfect chance to take me, and he passed it up.” (She lived 13 more years.)

Mom’s push toward heaven seemed extreme, but I admire two things about it: (1) her true love for Dad came through, and (2) her certainty of heaven was unshakeable. Day to day, hour to hour, a real heaven was on her mind, a specific place where her beloved had already gone.

Mom’s desire to be with Dad wasn’t her only heaven-themed longing. Her deepest craving was to run into the waiting arms of Jesus her Savior. She referenced that moment often and never doubted its authenticity. In 60 years as her daughter, I never heard a smidgen of uncertainty in her talk of one day living with Jesus.

Sometimes I find myself a little unsure. It isn’t exactly doubt, but it’s a serious wondering. How will it work when I move to the next world? The greeting we’ve heard some will get at heaven’s gate (well-done-good-and-faithful-servant) won’t apply to me. I love the Lord, but faithful servant? Not really. So, what are the other greeting possibilities? I wonder.

And what about the rush of guilt I’ll feel when I look into Jesus’ eyes? Or the regret that’ll sweep over me about my disobedience? What about my idle words? Time wasted? Bypassed opportunities? I wonder and wonder. How can it possibly go well?

But Mom? She never wondered. She was just plain sure, and that was delightfully refreshing.

“You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.” (Psalm 73:24)

What should a mentor ask for?

Friday’s blog post quoted what a good mentor might say through letters my Aunt Joyce had sent to me. Your response was delightfully enthusiastic, and over the weekend something lovely happened when I met up with her children at a wedding in Washington State. These California cousins handed me a green leather book with Aunt Joyce’s name embossed on the front. “You’ll enjoy looking at this,” they said.

At first I didn’t recognize the book with its pretty gold edges, but inside I saw it was from me, inscribed to Aunt Joyce for her 88th birthday. It was a devotional journal, and after each day’s entry, there was space for her written reflections. Aunt Joyce had written down her thoughts and prayers, giving me a glimpse of how a good mentor talks to God.

During the 4 hour plane ride home tonight, I immersed myself in what she wrote and was impacted by her honesty before her Lord, wondering if you readers might be impacted, too. Below are quotes from this journal, plucked with care so as not to reveal her secrets but to show all of us how a godly woman sees herself in relation to God:

  • Oh God, my trust is in you. I ask for deliverance from my feelings.
  • Lord, order my conduct, and take my burdens.
  • Remove my fear and anxiety. You said you would. I depend on that. Keep my mind stayed on Thee.
  • Rejoice exceedingly, Joyce!
  • God, if it’s not too late, I commit my cause to you. Help me do your way and will.
  • “…that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Wow! Me?
  • Lord, keep my attention on your side, not mine.
  • Lord, I need to be motivated by your love. I ask this by your Spirit. Thank you, right now.
  • Lord, open my eyes to see my enemy, which equals my captivity. Give me your equipment for fighting against captivity to sin. I want to conquer sin in my thoughts, attitudes, and actions.
  • I feel like I’m going through your refiner’s fire to purify my wickedness. I’ve had anger, stress, and frustration when I should have had hope!
  • Thank you for my Edward [husband of 62 years then]. I did not have sense enough myself to choose such quality.
  • God’s grace is like a sandwich. The top of the bun is what I deserve from Him. The filling is God’s grace. The bottom is what I receive from Him… life eternal.
  • I thank God for blessing received with no sorrow added.
  • I need someone greater, wiser, stronger and more powerful than I am. In Him I have everything.
  • Often God’s way up is down, but He’s there with us, too.
  • I became a new being today, started all over – forgiven, cleansed, powered by Him through the Holy Spirit. Praise to the Almighty, over and over! I’m so grateful.
  • To know Him is to love Him. I love you, Lord, and want to know you more.
  • I’m starting to understand what grace is, and what my comfort can be.
  • Stress and suffering shows me so clearly how very much I need Him, how hopeless and helpless I am without Him. I surrender all, dear Jesus, to you.

One of Aunt Joyce’s favorite verses, written out in her journal, is: “The Lord will perfect what concerns me.” (Psalm 138:8)

What should a mentor say?

Yesterday I shared the blessing of a mentor whose steady help came to me mostly through letters written the old-fashioned way, with pen and paper. I saved every one and today have a treasure-trove of mentor-wisdom from which I continue to draw.

What follows here is the answer to the question, what should a good mentor say? The statements below are plucked from much longer letters, but they serve as a small sampling of tried and true wisdom funneled from God, through my Aunt Joyce, to the rest of us. Here’s some of what she wrote:

  • The Lord sandwiches blessings and joys between times of changing us, which get us ready to live with him for eternity. He wants every individual to become like him and is helping us with that.
  • The fruit of the Spirit is… peace. I thank God when I feel peace [during tough times], because then I know it can’t be from any source other than his Spirit.
  • Although God has put you in difficult circumstances, I’m praying your praise of him and thanksgiving to him will be renewed, even now, where you are.
  • God doesn’t promise to remove our grief or burdens, but he does promise to sustain us through them, even through the bewildering unknown.
  • God is especially watchful over old people and children, while he is teaching and growing the in-betweens.
  • I think financial burdens can be the utmost of tests. You could lose the home you’ve lovingly cared for and the beautiful gardens you’ve planted, and many other things difficult to surrender. You can weep, but be sure you do it after crawling under his soft, protective wings.
  • I know you are spending significant time with the One who has all the answers to our questions and the power to execute them in his perfect way. He has all we need, but so often we don’t even ask.
  • You may remember that I have been through and experienced the value of lessons learned from God’s loving hands, but I didn’t always recognize it as his love at the time.
  • I’m learning the difference between knowing the Word and knowing the Author of it. Feel free to knock on his door!
  • When we do the praying, God will do the rest. Don’t ever doubt that.
  • We are helpless to change anyone else. Only God can. Our part is to love them and pray for them. Simultaneously we should be asking God what he’s trying to teach us in that process. And then we should listen.
  • When we’re learning lessons in life, it’s never easy and often seems endless, but it helps to remember the Lord is on our side, listening to even our weakest cry.
  • Prayer doesn’t necessarily change our struggles, and it certainly doesn’t change God, but it does change us, when we pray.
  • Thank you, Margee, for letting me share my heart and for the privilege of having a part in yours.

“The Teacher was considered wise, and [she] taught the people everything [she] knew. [She] sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.” (Ecclesiastes 12:9-10)