Remedies and Remedy

Did your mom have her list of go-to remedies for every malady you might experience?  I'm thinking your answer is probably "yes".  My mom sure did.  

Milk of Magnesia would cure everything.  Tummy ache?  Take some milk of magnesia.  Tired and worn out?  Take some milk of magnesia.  Ingrown toenail?  Same remedy..... well yeah that might be an exaggeration.  

Then there was Alka Seltzer.  Pop pop fizz fizz oh what a relief it is.  For every other known physical ailment that M.O.M wouldn't cure.  

Except skin scrapes and open wounds.  Mercurochrome was the deal for all things considered a "boo-boo".  And no, it doesn't sting.  Or so I was told that the pain I felt was not a sting.  Okay then, it was more the sense of your skin being doused with gas and set on fire.  Yeah, that might be an exaggeration, too.  

Mom may not have had the cure for all physical ills, but she definitely knew how to deal with bad attitudes and mean spirits.  She was the calmest person I've ever known and really all she had to do was look at me, listen to me, and say very little.  Maybe a little "actions speak louder than words" advice, or "fifty years from now this won't matter".  And my Dad actually gave me some of the sagest advice in situations where my feelings were hurt.  "Just make sure you're not the mean one.  Rise above".  

Often, very often, Mom had no words.  I think sometimes she listened and said nothing because she just didn't know the answer.  And that was okay.  I always knew her heart.  Always knew that she cared, and that my hurt was her hurt, too.   

Sometimes even in my older age, in fact more than sometimes, I really wish I could talk to my mom and dad.  Even just to be told that Milk of Magnesia will take care of it.  Even to get a wrong answer.  Even to get no answer.  There's just something healing about talking to one who loves you in a way that no other human being was designed to love you.  A parent's love.  

I'm really long in the tooth now, and I have two middle-aged (!?!WHAT?!?) daughters that come to me for the same reasons I went to my own mother.  I love that bond, but I also am acutely aware of my limitations in the wisdom department.  Every human has limitations in the wisdom department.  

Although we all like to think we have wise answers, don't we?  I find myself often stewing over unpleasant and painful situations.  Generally I replay conversations and insert "what I should have said" into the dialogue.  Or rehearse "what I'll say next time".  Like perhaps I think I know more than I really know. Like I actually am my own remedy.  While my blood pressure rises.  And my smile fades.  And my muscles tense.  And my spirit suffers.

In this whole process, something really important is totally overlooked....The Remedy.  We are not the Remedy.  

God designed us to need Him.  To seek His wisdom.  To trust His sovereignty.  To follow His call to "Love one another, as I have loved you."  To "be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry".  To "be kind to one another, tender-hearted and forgiving just as God in Christ Jesus has forgiven you."  

During times when I'm a bit overwhelmed with life and more than a little discouraged I find the most comfort in the fact that God doesn't find fault with us. Even when we find fault with others. Even when we find fault with ourselves.   He looks beyond our faults and offers grace and wisdom.  He will give us the words to say or the grace to remain silent.  And then.... he gives us His peace.  We can relax knowing He's God and we're not.

He is The Remedy.  

Passing time and snapping fingers

Her name was Elnora Christina Borgen Reed... Nora was her common name.  I didn't know her, but she knew me.  For the first six months of my life I believe she may have held me, maybe sang to me, definitely prayed for me.  They were the last six months of her life.  

I didn't know Grandma Nora, but I watched my own mom grieve her death.  Often during my early childhood Mom would be teary and talk about how very much she missed her momma.  

From reading my mom's diary recently I learned that Grandma Nora was a great source of strength to my family.  And I know that Grandma was a strong believer in Jesus and a Baptist through and through.  She prayed.  Though she lived to be 80 it wasn't long enough to see a lot of results from her prayers for her family.  I hope she knows that her prayers have made a difference.  Her prayers planted seeds.  It took some time for the seeds she planted in the hearts of her family to germinate.  But yes, Grandma Nora, your prayers have made a difference to your children and future generations.  In His time.  

Time.... of the waiting variety:
I have vivid memories of sitting in the car with Dad and my sister Sharon, the engine running, waiting to head out to some important event.  What were we waiting for?  Mom.  Probably standing in the house, looking in the mirror wishing her hair would cooperate.  Or applying lipstick at the last minute.  Wasting time, according to one man in particular. 

Dad did not like to be late, but he knew that hurrying Mom along was futile.  Even counter-productive.   Hmmm.  I am my mom.  😜

Time.... of the swift passing variety: 
I was 37 years old when my mother passed away.  During the first few hours after she passed I distinctly recall thinking, almost in panic mode, "Wait a minute!! That happened too fast.  How could 37 years have gone so fast? I'm not through with this part of my life yet. It can't be over"  I felt like a little girl still needing to hold my mom's hand.  Oddly enough until that moment I wasn't aware I still needed my mom's hand to hold.  I was well into adulthood, just assuming that I had everything under control, life was good.  All was going according to what I had always planned.  But one short moment in time changed that.  One last breath from the woman who loved me more than any other human being ever would.  

Time... of the anticipating variety:
Now retirement, the golden years, are up ahead and we can see those years approaching quickly.  We are so very excited for the time we expect to spend together.  We're enjoying making lists of things we want to do, places we want to go.   But I've also lived long enough to know that it's best to hold on to your own plans and dreams lightly.  Both of our fathers' lives were cut short and the "golden years" of retirement just didn't happen.  

Time...  of the hopeful variety:
There's a very good chance that we could live for a few more.....decades!  We're both in pretty good health.   My father's mom was 98 when she passed and my husband's grandma was in her 90's.  But even if we live to be 112?  You could add up all the days any one of us live and it would be equal to a quick snap of the fingers compared to the days between the beginning of time (creation) and all of eternity.  

Time... of the beautiful variety:
A few weeks ago we took a trip to Orlando Florida with our oldest daughter and son-in-law and the two oldest grandchildren.  Disney was the destination.  It was such a fun trip, making so many memories!  On the final day at Magic Kingdom, we stayed for grand finale which is a fireworks display at the Magic Kingdom Castle.  Though we were truly exhausted from three days of Disney, the amazing, magical, stunning transformation of the castle was the pinnacle of our time there.  Worth the wait.  

Pictures can't begin to capture the magic!

As we were watching the magical display it was easy to be just totally overwhelmed and stunned by the beauty of it all.  Just blown away by the creative engineering and man-made design of Disney.  

In the grand finale of that fireworks show, a thought came to me and I feel certain I know the source of that thought.  It was like God was saying to me, "Oh my dear girl you ain't seen nothing yet.  The beauty of Heaven will make this seem like just a fizzled firecracker."  

And I looked around at the crowd of thousands watching this show with their wide eyes and oooohs and aaaahs.  In that group of thousands, one will be the next person from that particular collection of humanity to come face to face with their Maker.  And see the real show.... for the rest of eternity.  Forever.  

I looked at faces and wondered if they know about the brevity of their time here and the reality of eternity.  I want them to know about Jesus and heaven, and the love that caused God to sacrifice His Son in order to make their eternity in heaven a possibility. 

The things of this world, both good and bad,  can consume us.   We get caught up in how good life is, we get caught up in how awful life is.  We forget how short life really is.  

We all need a Savior.  We all need the hope of Heaven.  We all will spend far far more time in eternity than we ever spent living on earth.  Please be ready.   

Like Grandma Nora, I find myself planting seeds of prayers.  Faith tells me those seeds will continue to germinate and grow.  Hope is leading me to believe that one day my faith will become sight.  And there will be a glorious reunion in heaven.  

When time will be no more.