Home

With all the talk of staying home over the past few weeks, this week saw a different kind of home for your MoM. The reason we came out to Tennessee finally arrived, and my mother-in-law was finally called Home by God.

Her health has taken several steps backward over the past months and it has been a bit of a struggle for several weeks now. She was a lady with a life long walk with Christ, so she knew where she was going, yet still, she had fears and doubts as she lay in bed and faced her final days. She was not able to communicate well in her weakened state, so I can’t say why or what she was afraid of, but in the past months she repeatedly said that she was not ready to die. That changed last week, and she began to express a desire to go to Heaven and see Jesus. That came as such welcome news to us, because we knew that she was ready to end the struggle here on earth.

Watching my hero fight for breath and comfort was difficult. I would spend nights up with her just letting her hold my finger. Sometimes we would read to her from the Bible. Sometimes we would sing. But mostly I just sat with her, giving her an occasional kiss on the forehead or cheek and reminding her how much she meant to me.

Last Monday night, several members of the family gather around her bed. We felt that the time was near so we kept vigil. In time we began to look up old hymns on the internet and sang them softly to her as she lay in a state of semi-consciousness. When we began to sing “How Great Thou Art” our voices grew louder. Somehow we all knew. Her eyes opened and began to stare upward, so we raised our praise to match. As the final words of the final chorus ended, she was able to make the transition home. After weeks in bed, Betty Keegan, my mother in law, my rock, my hero, was able to…

–Rise Up!!