Category Archives: Outdoor world

One Year Without Mary

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September 24, 2017

One year ago today, Mary left us, although that isn’t the accurate way to say it. She didn’t willfully leave us but allowed her departure to be orchestrated by God.

Trusting God.Scripture says Jesus has the key to death (Revelation 1:18) and that whatever he opens, no one can close. (Revelation 3:7) A year ago he opened death’s door for Mary, and her spirit walked willingly through it, right into eternal pleasure. It was God’s perfect plan for her.

That’s the encouraging thing about a loved one’s passing. If we, like Mary, have loved and followed Jesus in our earthly lives, death’s door is simply a passageway to a glorious new life we can’t possible picture now.

Knowing that, however, doesn’t ease the sorrow in the rest of us. Throughout this day, our minds have been filled with Mary – sweet remembrances and the thousand-and-one-ways we each miss her.

Bervin initiated a time of sharing tonight, to take place at the beach Mary loved so much. A bunch of us gathered to talk and let our eyes freely fill with tears, if need be. From a wide circle of beach chairs, we shared bits and pieces of who Mary was to each of us by way of things we hold dear about her now – memories from silly to serious.

Bervin prays

Bervin coaxed Scripture from us by asking if anyone could recall Bible passages that Mom/Grandma had taught them. As 7 young children played in the middle of our circle, the verses came forth. And in reciting those, we remembered how much Mary loved the Word of God.

It’s mindboggling to realize she is now loving THE Word, face-to-face. (John 1:1) And as one of her children said tonight, “She’s also got all the answers to all the questions the rest of us are still asking.”

SunsetLater, as we warmed hot dogs over our fire on a perfect weather-evening, the sun set over Lake Michigan. And we concluded that none of us knows who will next join Mary or when that might be.

But if she had walked up to our circle on the beach tonight with a bit of advice from her life “on the other side,” she probably would have said something like this: “Trust God with your life… and death. Study your Bibles. And be sure you say these words to others often: I love you.

“Because after all, you never know…”

On the beach“The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.” (Proverbs 4:18)

Newlywed Love (#76)

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July 10-11, 1970

As Nate got acquainted with his rural paper route, his start-to-finish time became more efficient. The weekend, however, was another story. For starters, his boss told him to plan on more time at the office to “put the Sunday papers together.”

Apparently the many extra sections had to be collated by the carrier, which took a while. That’s when Nate said, “Want to come with me? It might be fun. And you could see how everything works with my new job.”

Without even thinking, I said yes. Had I taken a moment, I would’ve remembered how quickly I get car sick from starts, stops, twists, and turns.

BundlesThe bundled papers were due to hit the deck around 1:00 AM. Nate and I decided not to go to bed at all Saturday night but to have a late dinner with Cathy and John, after which we’d go straight to the newspaper office.

Other carriers arrived shortly after we did, and we watched to see what they would do.

There were no tables on which to lay out the newspaper sections, so the guys began collating on the back seats of their cars — far from convenient.

CollatingThe weather was nice, so Nate and I spread our papers out on the hood of his VW.

When we began a photo session and some collating fun (along with shooting rubber bands), the other drivers looked askance at us – but we didn’t care. With 4 hands working instead of 2, we knew we’d be the first car out of the lot.

 

ReadingNate had his route memorized, so once we got into open country, he put some pep into his rapid zig-zagging. I admired the way he tossed the papers into each mailbox, not missing a one. But it wasn’t long before I was feeling queasy.

“Look out the window,” he said, but nighttime in the country doesn’t leave much to see.

I climbed into the back seat to lie down and close my eyes, but with his down-shifting, up-shifting, and many sharp stops, I had to fight rolling to the floor. Hanging my head out the window didn’t help either, and the route seemed to be taking forever. When I told him I might feel better if I drove, he quickly let me take the wheel.

MailboxesBut our pace slowed radically after that, with me needing verbal directions to each mailbox – all of which were hidden in inky darkness. “This isn’t working,” he said. “Are you feeling any better?”

“I’m a wreck,” I said. “You’ll just have to take me home.”

“But we’re nowhere near home,” he said, picking up speed. “From this point on, though, we’re more than half way. So think of it as heading toward home.”

By the time we finally pulled in behind our building, I was ready for a barf-bag. Nate apologized repeatedly, but all I wanted was to go prone and (with any luck) go unconscious. It was 5:00 AM.

Never again…

“Get wisdom. Develop good judgment.” (Proverbs 4:5)

Newlywed Love (#73)

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June 28-July 2, 1970

My second week of student teaching was harder than the first. The 22-year-old certified teacher (to whom I was accountable) told me I would be doing most of the teaching while she sat and observed.

That meant every evening I had to study curriculum materials and prepare lesson plans. Since I didn’t know what I was doing with this new grade level, I had to dig into the seminar textbooks by the hour to figure it all out.

Job searchAs for Nate’s days, he continued making calls and pounding the pavement seeking a third job, since day-after-day his name was passed over for construction work, and his pots and pans weren’t selling.

The two of us had virtually no time together and were suffering because of it. We did sit together over our simple dinners, but the rest of the time I was either gone or busy. The only recreation was late-night coffee breaks with Cathy and John… and of course fun in the bedroom.

One evening we gave ourselves the luxury of a walk through the neighborhood, taking Baron with us. His funny antics always lifted our spirits.

DiscouragedWhen we returned to our apartment, though, we discovered we’d locked ourselves out. The only option was to knock on a neighbor’s door and ask to use the phone. Then, after calling the landlord, the 3 of us waited on the front step.

We talked about our sticky situation with Baron being there, and how it could end badly. But I had an idea. “I could take Baron around to the back yard,” I said, “so Mr. Norman won’t see him.”

Nate, with his sterling integrity, responded exactly as I expected. “Better not.”

“But what is he gonna say?”

“Well… let’s just wait and see. Maybe it won’t be a big deal.”

When Mr. Norman finally arrived with his master key, he immediately zeroed in on Baron, perched in Nate’s arms. “Who’s this little fellow?”

Nate introduced them while Baron did his best to radiate puppy-charm. Watching our landlord pat him on the head lit a tiny flame of hope in me. But then he said, “He’s not your dog, is he?”

Nate and I took a quick glance at each other, which of course answered the question. “Well… he can’t stay here. Nothing against him, you understand, but that’s my rule.”

When we didn’t respond, he continued. “I’ll tell you what. You can have through the weekend to figure out what to do. But after that, he needs to be gone.”

Our feet were heavy as we followed Mr. Norman and his key up the stairs. He didn’t chide us for interrupting his evening or threaten to evict us. But as he gave Baron one last pat on the head he said, “By the end of the weekend.” And that was that.

Baron at easeMy heart was hurting, but Nate summed it up well. “We knew this would happen eventually. And really, he didn’t even have to let us back in the apartment… with Baron.”

“I suppose,” I said. “And I guess being honest should count for something” – though right then I wished I’d done the dishonest thing and taken him to the back yard.

“The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.” (Proverbs 11:3)