The past couple days have been a rollercoaster of emotion for me...grieving, preparations and celebrations. Mother's Day was on Sunday, and amidst all the preparations of ordering corsages, flowers and gifts for mothers and celebration with my own children, it was a hard day for me. You see...my little brother passed away a little less than a year ago, and as a mother of three, I knew this was not only a loss for the whole family...but so much more for a mother. My heart all day went out to a mother who every year on Mother's Day would receive a box of candy and a dozen roses (and sometimes two if he forgot he ordered it already) from a son who loved her more than life itself. My heart grieved all day for that loss of my mother's...and for the loss of so many other mothers who were unable to celebrate with the children they had lost throughout the years. It was a hard day...
Then my oldest son Joshua's 21st birthday was yesterday... It was a wonderful thing to be able to celebrate and spend that time with him reminiscing and just laughing over the different aspects of the past 21 years. We sang happy birthday to him over cake and Honest John's chicken wings. ...And then, I don't know what possessed me or why things pop in my head the way they do...I have a lot of "squirrel" moments...smh...don't mind me...but the words...Happy birthday to you, you live in a zoo popped into my head and out my mouth they came. For some reason, that's all I could remember to the song so I stopped singing, struggling to remember the rest...Josh and Stephen, however, remembered the rest. They finished singing the song for me ...and when the realization of what the song was about hit me, we just laughed and laughed. I thought I was going to die from laughing so much. It was a fun day.
The rollercoaster of emotions, preparations, and celebrations from the past two days makes me think about when Jesus left the disciples....How much they must have grieved to lose Him. He knew they would, so He sent them the Comforter... the Holy Spirit. And He said in John 14:2-3, "My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." We can rejoice because He's gone on to prepare a place and a homecoming celebration for us. We may grieve a little while, but we will not only see Him again, we will see and celebrate with all our loved ones who have gone on before us as well... Amidst all the emotions and preparations through the years, on that day, what a celebration it will be.
Then my oldest son Joshua's 21st birthday was yesterday... It was a wonderful thing to be able to celebrate and spend that time with him reminiscing and just laughing over the different aspects of the past 21 years. We sang happy birthday to him over cake and Honest John's chicken wings. ...And then, I don't know what possessed me or why things pop in my head the way they do...I have a lot of "squirrel" moments...smh...don't mind me...but the words...Happy birthday to you, you live in a zoo popped into my head and out my mouth they came. For some reason, that's all I could remember to the song so I stopped singing, struggling to remember the rest...Josh and Stephen, however, remembered the rest. They finished singing the song for me ...and when the realization of what the song was about hit me, we just laughed and laughed. I thought I was going to die from laughing so much. It was a fun day.
The rollercoaster of emotions, preparations, and celebrations from the past two days makes me think about when Jesus left the disciples....How much they must have grieved to lose Him. He knew they would, so He sent them the Comforter... the Holy Spirit. And He said in John 14:2-3, "My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." We can rejoice because He's gone on to prepare a place and a homecoming celebration for us. We may grieve a little while, but we will not only see Him again, we will see and celebrate with all our loved ones who have gone on before us as well... Amidst all the emotions and preparations through the years, on that day, what a celebration it will be.