Returning to the Land of the Living

 I remain confident of this:

    I will see the goodness of the Lord

    in the land of the living.

 Wait for the Lord;

    be strong and take heart

    and wait for the Lord.

Psalm 27:13-14New International Version (NIV)

If you read my last blog post – okay, it was the one that my dog wrote a week ago – you know that my mom passed away on February 15. As Dino mentioned, Mom was at our house for dinner on January 15 and the very next day her health began to plummet.

I’ve had a lot going on since then. Reading back over my blog posts since that day, it may or may not have been easy to pick up on my struggles and my stress. I plowed through each day and each turn of the corner for Mom, the ups and downs.

Though not evident in this particular post, what got me through was journaling. I spent four nights and the majority of four days with Mom near the end, and when she was asleep I had my trusty laptop in my lap, my fingers flying over the keys. Thoughts and feelings that I wanted to capture in those moments, but not necessarily share, at least not in the immediate future.

In the file where I write these posts, I have a short list of Bible verses to pull from when nothing comes to mind. The above verse was one of them. God is good. He gives me – He gives all of us – what we need when we need it.

And now, it is time for me to return to the land of the living, always remembering Mom, but turning my attention to what lies ahead.

Lord, God, thank You for every breath we take on this earth and thank You for the promise of eternal life so we will always be in the land of the living. Amen

My mom's favorite picture of her and Dad, 

and the only one she gave me permission to share at her funeral.