A Good Day

Late Monday evening I received this email from my Dad: “If ever I made a suggestion for a journal, this would be the time – “It’s been a good day.” I have been asleep for an hour and woke up with that on my mind.  It’s the last thing you said to me after we delivered the flowers and you dropped me off.” He sent that message only hours after attending the memorial service honoring my mom, his wife of 59 years, who passed away five days earlier.

He considered it a good day.

Before I drove Dad home that evening we spent several hours with friends who came to our house to share comfort. We ate lots of food furnished by Dad’s Sunday School Class – they took excellent care of us – a network of support that instantly jumped into action to minister to our family.

Some of the friends who joined us were new friends, many were family, and some friends went back more than 60 years. They filled the entire weekend with hope and faith and love.

We often take the support we get from other Christians for granted because we see it in action so often. We know that if a disaster strikes our family we can make one or two phone calls and a hundred people will be holding us and praying for us and serving us. Most Christians have the same confidence in that safety net --but what about the rest of the world. I’m sure there are groups besides churches who do this sort of thing, but I don’t see them in action the way I’ve seen Sunday School classes minister to one another.

During those days before the memorial service I was reminded by several that “you mother is in a better place.” And it’s an absolutely true statement; a statement that my family believes so deeply we never actually discussed it. It was too obvious; as in, “Everybody knows that.”

Instead, our talk centered on how my mom lived during the 72 years before Alzheimer’s took over. Everybody knew without a doubt she was with God in heaven, so we told stories about her life and looked at photos and laughed together.

I’ll be honest. I didn’t intend to write about this again. I prefer to move ahead in joy and discover what adventure comes next. But I couldn’t resist my Dad’s suggestion. Like he said, “It was a good day.”

“I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32

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