He is so faithful!

It has been 3 weeks already since we buried Mom.  I need to get caught up on blogging.  With her death and with Christmas, with cleaning out Mom's duplex, my hours have been quite full!

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Jill helped me prepare the duplex for my uncles who were coming from Ohio for their sister's funeral. I went to Wichita to pick them up.  They had come on 2 different flights with a couple of hours between them.  

                                    

When Uncle Mahlon got off the plane, I gave in to the tears.  He reminded me of Mom so much! Here's a picture of Uncle Wally and Uncle Mahlon with my mother.  You can tell they are siblings!

 We just held on to eachother as we went to the car.  What a comfort he was to me!  And what a trooper!  He agreed to help me do some Christmas shopping in the city while we waited for Uncle Wally and Aunt Wanda's flight to come in. I really didn't want to even think about Christmas, but knew that it wouldn't do not to celebrate Christ's birth with the children.

You would think that Christmas is a terribly bad time to be having a funeral.  And in a way, yes. There is so much to do for Christmas preparation, and it did simplify my plans for that holiday this year for sure.  But we saw God's guidance and His going before us each step of the way!  We could not argue His timing.  I can only trust in His goodness.

As Mom lay in her bed getting weaker, she said, 

"God is so faithful.  He's just so faithful!"

Before our trip to California, I took Mom over to sign her up for assisted living and the lady in charge was not available at that time.  But we knew there was a waiting list.  We ran into the guy in charge of health care and he told us that they happened to have 2 rooms open, one now, and one the next day or two.  If we wanted, we could move mom there until a room in assisted became available.  That way, I could feel better about going to California with her having 24/7 care.  First off, rarely are there any rooms available on the day you want to move in.  There is usually a waiting list!  The fact that we ran into Blair and that a room was there (3 others had looked at it and decided not to take it), that was God walking before us.

                                                 

The fact that Adam's sister Stacy was here visiting was another God thing.  It allowed Jill to spend lots of time with Grandma that last week.  She was a comfort to mom and to me too.  My daughter Mindy also came often and was with Mom and calling me about her.  My brother came down too.   Blessings.

In California, while Al was in meetings, I took along pictures and worked on Mom's story and a power point presention for the upcoming "someday we'll have a funeral" but thinking it might be a year still.   I just hadn't had time to work on it at home, but here was uninterrupted time to do it.  I had no idea it would be used in a little over a week's time! 

                                   

I also worked on our Christmas letter and addressed Christmas cards.  There would not have been anytime for that if we had not made this trip!  And my mother insisted I not cancel this trip and she told me to enjoy myself.  She told the girls, "Tell your mother not to hurry back."  I would have had I known.

And the fact that both Josh and Mindy happened to come visit 

on the day Mom died.  

We had no idea she would go that day.  

But God blessed our family with that special time.

Yes, Mom, God is so faithful,  He's just so very faithful!

After picking up Uncle Wally's, we drove to Mom's duplex.  We wheeled Dad over from health care.  Mom's neighbor had made soup in a crock pot and placed it there, all ready for our dinner that night.  It was delicious!!!  We all wanted her recipe, so I am passing it on:

Midwest Chowder
1 1/2 - 2 cups diced potatoes
2 cups sliced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
1/4 cups diced onion
2 cups water
Cook vegetables in water.

1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
8 oz. Velveeta (or 2 cups shredded cheese)
1 can corn (or frozen)
some sausage, ground beef or chicken
Add milk and flour, stirring occasionally.  Add cheese - do not let it boil.  Add cooked meat.  Cook in a slow cooker if you want.  It takes less watching or stirring.

Wouldn't this be good in a bread bowl?

 


While I was gone to Wichita, Marilyn and all the ladies from my Bible study had brought food and more food and more food to the house.  Allen was home to receive it all.

Pies, casseroles, soups, rolls, crackers and cheese.

Over this entire week (and more) I did not have to cook once!!  What a blessing all that food was for our family!  The last thing I wanted to have to think about was what to cook for the clan during this time!  We were overwhelmed with the kindness!

You can tell what fun my mom's brothers are.  We laughed and laughed!

What a blessing!

What a faithful God and faithful friends and family!