Excerpt from funeral message based on Psalm 23, part 4. And today she sits at the table he has prepared for her. What a joy and consolation. The table David had in mind may have been the high flatlands of summer pasture, which the shepherd would scout out, pulling up poisonous weeds, looking for signs [...]
Read more
Archive | October, 2008
being led, 3
October 22, 2008
0 Comments
Excerpt from funeral message based on Psalm 23, part 3. He leads us beside the still waters. He also leads us through dark valleys. For mom this was the loss of loved ones, both physically and emotionally. Sacrifice and suffering are our lot, and we are not alone. But the truth is, we are led [...]
Read morebeing led, 2
October 22, 2008
0 Comments
Excerpt from funeral message based on Psalm 23, part 2. Ours was often a transitional life. By the time I was 16 I had lived in 13 different places, and mom was blessed that God often and finally provided some still waters. Our home on the mountain was one of those places. So was the [...]
Read morebeing led
October 19, 2008
0 Comments
Excerpt from funeral message, part 1) You can tell a lot about people by the books they own, and even more by the books they read. Most of my mom’s books are about the animals, birds, fish and other creatures in which she found such joy. When she came to our house ten weeks ago, [...]
Read moregiving thanks
October 16, 2008
4 Comments
I’m officiating at mom’s funeral Friday. Here is part of what I need to say: ————————————- On behalf of my mom, I’d like to thank you for being here today. She was a friend to many, and many are here today to honor her. And I honor you, for your faithfulness to her, your love [...]
Read moreobituary
October 11, 2008
4 Comments
Bonnie Joan Metts died peacefully in her sleep last night. She was 74. Born on November 7, 1933 in Naples, Florida, she was the daughter of Jack and Mary Prince. Although she came from a family of some means, her own mom was killed in an auto accident when she was four and her Dad [...]
Read moredoing math
October 11, 2008
5 Comments
Dying is largely a matter of subtraction. Ten days ago mom stopped going to the bathroom. Five days ago, on Sunday, she stopped eating. Tuesday she stopped drinking. Or talking. Her eyes lost their ability to track us, and she closed them, for good it appears. Tonight, I’m sitting by her bed waiting for the [...]
Read moretraveling mercies
October 10, 2008
8 Comments
One of these mornings You’re going to rise up singing Then you’ll spread your wings And you’ll take to the sky From Summertime, George Gershwin The Tamiami Trail was finished in 1928, five years before my mom was born. It was an amazing feat for its time, built across an impenetrable swamp over 12 years [...]
Read moreremembering the past
October 7, 2008
0 Comments
This last weekend mom entered a stage the hospice nurse referred to as “terminal restlessness.” She is often anxious, kicking off her covers and trying to get out of bed. She has short periods of clarity and longer ones of confusion. And even longer ones of sleep. She isn’t the only one who is tired. [...]
Read more
