Thursday, October 25, 2007

Awesome God

My Mom holding me with my Grandma and my brother Alan , this was probably 1956.



My Mom when she was young, I have no idea the date of this picture.







My Mom and I in Florida probably in 1999

Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power and love
Our God is an awesome God





Many of you know this praise song and it is one of my favorites. Let me put together these pictures and why I have this praise song in my post. Today marks six years since my Mom died. This post is not so much about her death but how God showed me his awesome love. So let me go back to the fall of 2001. You all know what happened in September of 2001. Well, there was a European cruise my sweetie and I were supposed to go on in the Fall of 2001 for our 25th anniversary and then 9/11 happened and my Mom(who never asked me for anything) didn't want us traveling overseas, which if you remember alot of people were afraid to travel back then. So we cancelled our trip. Now pay attention the cruise will come into the story later on. On October 25th, 2001 I was working at my office and had a extremely difficult day, a woman was very nasty to me and well the things she said just really upset me. So where does a girl go after a difficult day at work, to visit her Mom & Dad for some love. Let me just say this, I never usually went over my parents on a workday evening because I usually had to go home and get dinner together etc... So I was led to go over and see them and they were in such high spirits. It was one of those beautiful fall sunny days in Ohio and my parents had been out all day, outlet mall shopping , lunch, the casino boats, dinner. They had a wonderful day and my Mom was in such a great mood. My Dad had just bought her a SUV and she took me to the garage and was so excited about it. So I stayed for a few hours just chatting and enjoying the fact they both were so happy. My Mom walked me out on the porch and gave me a kiss and told me she loved me. She was very reserved and didn't do this all the time. Three hours later I received a phone call, my Mom was being rushed to the hospital and wasn't breathing. In fact she had already gone home to the Lord. She died of a massive heart attack. In the days that followed and in my grief, I didn't put things together right away. But I believe I was given a great gift from God. He knew what I needed before it even happened and took care of my needs because He loves me and wanted to ease my grief. He gave me the gift of seeing my Mom totally happy on her last day on earth and of her saying goodbye to me, though I didn't know it at the time. Oh, and to get back about the European cruise, if my Mom didn't ask me not to go, my sweetie and I would have been floating somewhere around the Mediterranean at the time of her death and it would have been a nightmare trying to get home. I know this is a long post and I still miss my Mom and so wish she could have seen her great grandbabies but I know in my heart and soul, I was given a gift from God and I feel so humbled that He loves us so much that he takes care of our needs before we even know that we need them. So yes, I believe our God is an awesome God, and He does reign from heaven above with wisdom, power and love.


12 comments:

LivingTheLife said...

OH!! Joan...your story has me both smiling and crying. Yes...you are so right...God takes care of us...even when we don't think we need it. I am thrilled for you that you were able to spend that time with your mom and dad. Makes you almost glad that lady was so "nasty" acting toward you...hmmm? I will be thinking of you today and of your mom...what a beautiful story...thanks so much for sharing it!

Blessings...
"T"

Knit-Wit said...

What a great story! I'm so glad you had such a loving and wonderful relationship with your mother. That is a great memory to pass down to your children.

Irene said...

Wow, that is an amazing story! Thank you so much for sharing it. It definitely brought tears to my eyes!

Christine Boles said...

That's a wonderful story~ thank you for telling us about it!
What a great God we've got~

Justabeachkat said...

Sweet Joan...what a beautiful, sweet, touching post. You're so right...Our God is an Awesome God!! (I love that song and I'm pretty sure I'll be humming it the rest of the day :-) What a beautiful gift He gave you.

I have a similar story. Years ago, my Mom and step-father who I loved dearly had just returned from a trip across the country. It was Father's Day and although it was late and I knew they were tired, I ran over to their house to see them and to take him his gift. My husband and children stayed home since it was the children's bedtime. I stayed for awhile just enjoying seeing them and listening to their stories about the trip. I remember thinking how wonderful they both looked, especially my step father. They were tan, healthy and so happy. I remember thinking to myself how handsome he looked. Later, during the wee hours of the morning, I received the phone call that he had a heart attack in the middle of the night and died quickly. We were all so devastated. I was so happy though that I was given the gift of seeing him that night. Our God IS an awesome God.

Hugs!
Kat

blessings said...

Our good or His glory - everything! He was so gentle with your heart that day. Oh, thank you Father! Blessings... Polly

Anonymous said...

That was great to read! Loved the pictures of you and mom. I still miss her sometimes too!!

Sandy McTier Designs said...

WOW! What a powerful story. It's amazing when we can look back at something and see God's hands all over it. It happens to us every day but some days it's more obvious than others. Beautiful story. Thank you so much for sharing it and God Bless you!
Blessings,
Sandy :)
PS that is one of my favorite Praise songs!

judy said...

Well, that made me cry reading it. I remember that day well. I liked the pictures. The one that was more recent of you and mom had me in it also and it is one of favorite pictures of mom. She looked very happy in that shot. She loved having us all come down to Florida and visit them. I particularly remember the year Gail, Alan and I went down when dad had his heart attack and Alan tried to sell both Gail and I off. We had a great time and it was a great stress relief after rushing down there to make sure dad was okay. I would have never thought that mom would die of a heart attack when she had no issues in that area. Thanks for the memories!

Love, Judy

Jennifer in MS said...

What an awesome post! It gave me chills! I'm so happy God lead you to see your mom on her last day......

Blessings to you!

Dianne said...

That really is a touching story! We may never know at the time why things happen, but I absolutely LOVE when you can look back and see the wisdom and guidance of God. I'm glad you were obedient...what a huge blessing that turned out to be!

Maria said...

what a beautiful story! My mother has gone to her heavenly home too, almost 20 months ago. I miss her terribly. And you are absolutely right, God is an awesome God! I am bookmarking your blog to check in often!