This blog posting is the second in a series of lessons I learned from my mother.
I grew up in South Carolina. Thunder storms were common. Thunder didn’t just roll. It shook the whole house.
The lightening would light up the houses all the way down the street. Frequently the electricity “went out.”
Everything would stop and in-between lightening, all would be dark.
I never liked the dark. Those same monsters that scared me at bedtime threatened to show up in the dark. But, as always, my mother had a way to keep them away.
She would get out the kerosene lanterns and light them. Our family would cluster together near the lights. Mother would sit in the rocking chair and I’d crawl up in her lap.
She would rock and sing. She sang various soothing songs, but my favorite was the old hymn, “God Will Take Care of You.”
She insisted I sing. And then she would change the words to “God will take care of me.” I got to make a personal affirmation that God would indeed take care of me. It was a spiritual deposit that has lasted a lifetime.
Mother said with great confidence, “God will always take care of you, Carolyn. Don’t ever forget that. There will always be storms, but He will take care of you.”
I had many storms in my life after those South Carolina ones. Frequently I would find myself singing, “God will take care of me …” And He did.
One of the greatest storms in my life came, as my mother lay close to death, after a car crash. As my father, niece and I sat at her bedside, we prayed. In shaky voices, that gave evidence of the anxiety beneath, we begged God for her comfort and return to good health.
Right in the midst of our prayers, we heard my mother begin to pray. Her prayer was not a prayer of petition. It was a prayer of gratitude … in fact, multiple prayers woven together.
She thanked God for the life He had permitted her to live on earth. She thanked God for each member of the family, speaking of each of us by name, remembering special gifts God had given each of us.
At the end of her prayer, she turned to my father, whose face was bathed in tears. She said, “God has taken care of us all our lives. How could we do anything, but trust Him now?”
I remember opening my mouth to agree, but all that came out was the song. I began to sing, “God will take care of you.” I was only a few notes in, when I heard my mother’s clear soprano voice, as she joined in.
We sang all the verses. Then, as if to put a benediction on our time of worship, she took my hand and said, “And He will. Don’t forget it. God will take care of you.”
Lessons
Storms are a part of life.
Know there is only One Who can truly calm the storm. Know He is God.
No matter how dark things get, there is a Light powerful enough to light up the whole world.
When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am The Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have The Light of Life.”
John 8:12
Let Him light your life and then share that Light with those around you. Be willing to hold them close and wait together for more Light.
“You are The Light of the world.”
Matthew 5:14
” … let your Light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.”
Matthew 5:16
God will take care of you. Peter said it well, and my mother lived it up to the very doors of Glory!
“Cast all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7
