Well it is Spring in North Texas and allergy season is one
heck of a pain in the neck this year. It is always bad for allergy sufferers,
yet this year is a bit more than normal.
And I wanted to finish this story rather quickly while I was
somewhat inspired, but real life happens, things come up, and someone else
wants to do something. I need apologize to you for not being more disciplined. Yeah,
right.
And someone said on the news the other night it has been a
boring week. And though I love the D.C. debacle it probably does help things calmed
down for a bit. Calm before another storm? And speaking of storms we are
getting some today as I write. Just heard the rumble of thunder. Maybe I should
wait on writing since there is lightning in the air. I wouldn’t want to write
something that gets a bolt or two headed in my direction. Ha ha.
And some coffee please,,, just put the coffee pot in the dishwasher
and now I am wanting some more. sheesh
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John and Mary continue to thrive in life, yet in different
ways. John constantly worked; the kids grew. Each of their children achieved success
in high school and middle school. John regrets that none of his children play
football. He thinks to himself this is Mary’s fault, she coddles them too much.
They have five now. Three boys and two girls. Both girls do well in school and
one of the boys and one of the girls participate in marching band and love it.
No one in the family tree can figure out where they got their talent since no
one remembers playing an instrument growing up on both the paternal and
maternal side of the family. John has a faint memory of his Father singing
around the house and was pretty good, but other than that, everyone is clueless.
Still, it bothers John since playing in band is not manly enough for the boy.
He isn’t too pleased with these children’s successes.
One boy plays soccer and the other basketball. The other
girl is a bookworm according to John. None of his children are growing up the
way he expected and quietly holds grudges towards Mary about the children.
The children are happy and thriving. Mary is extremely busy
running around with all the activities and is so busy she just ignores John’s occasional
affairs now. And he has much fewer than he did before the conversation with his
Pastor. She loves her children and relishes in all their accomplishments. They feel
her love and enjoy being with her, even when they must go to church with
Grandma and Grandpa.
Since their Dad is only home about half the Sundays of the
year they spend their time with him at his church. His church is much easier to
attend with youth groups that engage in fun activities. Half the time they don’t
even go to service, just spend time hanging out with the youth group, eating
pizza and with youth pastors asking how they expect to become successful. No
one really knows at this point in their life, they just have fun hanging out.
In Grandma and Grandpa’s church, it is much more serious, and they attend real
Sunday Bible class, plus going to service. They spend almost three hours there.
The one good moment is between service and class when they stop by to get
donuts. The adults get coffee and the kids get juice.
The years meld into one another. Soon the first child
graduates. They spend the summer on a family vacation. John senses that time is
passing by quicker than he realizes and decides the family needs a real vacation.
John for one of the few times, pulls out all the stops for his family and takes
them on a ten-day vacation to the Caribbean. This is the most wonderful vacation
all of them can remember. The rest of the summer is spent by Mary shopping and
crying for her oldest. They spend a few days at the new school. Mary cries
silently all the way home. She, more than John, realizes how precious time is
becoming.
The other kids go back to high school and middle school and
soon she is so busy she barely has time to call her child at college. Christmas
comes and goes. The school year ends. Summer passes, now two are in college.
Even though he had been sick for quite some time, Mary’s
Father had held up well. Many people didn’t realize how hard the cancer had hit
him until the last few weeks. He passed quickly it seemed to Mary.
John did spend time at home during this time. And one day John
was talking to his Father in law. They had never been close, yet Dad wanted to
say something to John. As he lay on his death bed, there was so much he wanted
to say, but he was weak now. He did tell John to remember that love is an
effort. You must give love to receive love and not to worry so much about
success and money. He tries to share a
bible verse with John
“Do not
lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where
thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and
steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. . . . No one
can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or
he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God
and money. (Matt. 6:19–24)
He was barely able to express this sentiment and his feelings
that he wanted John to understand. He fell asleep trying to explain. He passed
soon thereafter. Mary’s parents were close. Mom passed away before another year
went by.
John did go to his Pastor to ask about his Father’s illness
and death. He took Mary along as his way to console her. The Pastor quoted
Isaiah 53:5 “The Punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds
we are healed.” The Pastor explained
that no believer would ever be sick and believers will live their full life. He
explained that maybe Mary’s Father was experiencing some doubt in his life and
that is why late in life he got cancer. Mary was not consoled by this sentiment.
She remembered a sermon where her parent’s preacher talked about Isaiah prophesizing
that Jesus would atone for our sins and heal us from sin.
Mary spent about a year in grief after her parents died. She
found great solace in the programs her parents’ church had for people grieving.
The Church John and her attended did not have many service orientated
ministries so she only spoke to the Pastor the one time with John.
John was still very involved at church when he was home. He continued
to attend the board meetings and was well respected in the community for his success.
Even though he did not like some of the career choices the older children were
making, many people saw their success as a reflection on how involved he was in
the church. Mary, in the church’s eye was not that prominent. She never joined
any women’s groups nor seemed successful herself. Mary didn’t care she was
still quite content showering her children with love and doing more service
work at her parent’s church.
John and Mary began the laborious process of growing old together,
well for Mary it now seemed a laborious process.
To be continued.
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