I look at a painting on my kitchen wall that I brought to remind us of Fiji. It's of frangipani flowers, a beautiful explosion of beauty and exquisite smell from a tree that spends a lot of it's time looking like it's dead. The man who painted the picture is a leper we know who can no longer walk and doesn't have all of his fingers. Beauty again from the dying.
It reminds me of my father-in-law's face as I hugged him 'goodbye' what I knew would be the last time. I told him I loved him and he whispered, "I love you, too, sweetie." I looked at his face and saw the bit of radiance there that I'd seen a number of times during our recent visits to see him, as if the veil between life and death was getting thin for him and the light of his eternal home was starting to seep through. Beauty.
It's a thin veil really. I will never forget Hannah's words as I performed CPR on my father-in-law's son's earthly body. Medical help doesn't come right away in Fiji and things like how LONG to keep trying CPR don't stick from the classes until you need to know. Hannah said, "Mom, it's OK. That's not Daddy anymore." The veil between life and death is thin.
I will be remembering my mother-in-law today and the days to come. To continue life without the partner of 50 odd years...... But I'm not sad at all for her husband. He's seen the Face I long to see. He's beheld His glory! And he'll never be in pain, sick, or sorrowful again! Beauty!!!
It reminds me of my father-in-law's face as I hugged him 'goodbye' what I knew would be the last time. I told him I loved him and he whispered, "I love you, too, sweetie." I looked at his face and saw the bit of radiance there that I'd seen a number of times during our recent visits to see him, as if the veil between life and death was getting thin for him and the light of his eternal home was starting to seep through. Beauty.
It's a thin veil really. I will never forget Hannah's words as I performed CPR on my father-in-law's son's earthly body. Medical help doesn't come right away in Fiji and things like how LONG to keep trying CPR don't stick from the classes until you need to know. Hannah said, "Mom, it's OK. That's not Daddy anymore." The veil between life and death is thin.
I will be remembering my mother-in-law today and the days to come. To continue life without the partner of 50 odd years...... But I'm not sad at all for her husband. He's seen the Face I long to see. He's beheld His glory! And he'll never be in pain, sick, or sorrowful again! Beauty!!!
Grandpa chasing a tiny Hannah on the beach in Fiji
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