Samuel's birthday and mama's heavenly anniversary blessings

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27

Holidays are so hard when you lose those precious to you. I had been dreading our Samuel's 17th Birthday and my Mama's first heaven going anniversary A DAY APART. It is too much, too hard and too overwhelming. We all grive differently and we all had some hard days thinking about the days ahead and the loss we feel. We can't choose these things, but we can choose how we spend the time and how we keep our mind safe.

After Samuel passed away, his heaven anniversaries and birthdays were so hard. We would plan a special camping trip or get away and they were wonderful, but also so hard knowing why we were away and missing him terribly. It's easy for depression to creep in, darkness and emptiness. We decided after a few years that the best way to Celebrate Samuel's life on these days was to stay in our routine, seek the Lord and serve others. 💙 That's when Random Acts of Kindness started.

The Lord teaches us in Acts 20:35

"It is more blessed to give than to receive."

It does bring joy and keeps our eyes focused on serving the Lord and loving others when we give.  We have learned that the Lord gave us the key in His Word. 

🗝️

"Jesus said to him,“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’"  Matthew 22:37-39

The ONLY way to get through such loss, grief and deep deep pain is to cling to the Lord, His promises and our salvation.  Serving the Lord with GLADNESS means loving Him and others!

So we made cookies, cinnamon rolls and cards to give to others.  This kept me so occupied and joyful on Samuel's birthday.

Thank you to those who sent us messages, pictures, gifts and cards!!! I do want to share with you some pics of others acts of service at the bottom. But I also want to share about mamas first anniversary in heaven too.

We know with absolute certainty that Mama and Samuel are rejoicing, having a life that we cannot imagine in HEAVEN with the Lord. I can only imagine mama playing her mandolin perfectly on the most beautiful beach, swimming in the sea with no critters to hurt her, enjoying the colors of heaven and the splendor of Glory! Samuel running, singing and them worshiping the Lord.

We here are still grieving for them so we decided to keep busy working, doing our best and serving others. It was a heavy day, but at the same time it was a very sweet day. It was filled with so many hugs, flowers and messages of love and prayers. Our family came together that evening for supper and we all made mamas specialties. Honey glazed ham, crock pot macaroni and cheese, seasoned green beans, Sister Shubert rolls, creole, fruit and strawberry cream cheese cake! Daddy worked hard to finish up his back deck so we could all come together and enjoy it! It was A SWEET time eating, taking, heading the children's laughter, watching Mary Harper try and eat everything... One year ago we were just about to find out that she was a little girl and would have mamas name 💖.

Such Joy and love amidst such grief and sorrow. I know that mama would be so proud of the way we have all pitched in, have been here for each other and tried to still be a shining light for Jesus. That is what she and Daddy taught us.  That is how to handle life's hard times. 

Here are the pics from both days and the Blessings! 🙏❤️

Dear friends planted this (pic above) last year in mamas memory and it bloomed this week!

Dear Friends sent me plants and flowers, others made gifts to share! ~

My sweet mother in love made arrangements for several friends and us! She also got a treat for a loved one. 💐

A dear friend made treats for all the teachers at school! 

We made cookies to share ❤️

Our gorgeous Christmas cactus' bloomed the whole week!!!!

One of my dearest friends sent us a plant on the day that Samuel died and I still have the sweet ornament in the plant. ❤️

Then the glorious sunrise on Tuesday. 

💓

For Tuesday (Mamas heaven going day). Daddy wanted to finish the project he started almost a year ago and have us all come and eat together. It was a beautiful night together as we are some of mamas wonderful recipes. Here we are enjoying the new back porch and each other. Thank you to all who prayed for us. It was a sweet and special time.

To COMPLETELY BLESS our day, my sister found mamas notes from church the day before she died! 

"Life on earth indicates the flowing, futile and puzzling nature of life. The ULTIMATE answers to the meaning of life is to obey God and enjoy fellowship with Him." David Rountree from Ecclesiastes 1.

Keep serving the Lord, keep giving and keep looking Heavenward! Many Blessings and thank you all again for your prayers for us! 🙏

Let's continue to encourage one another as we Abide in Him each day. 

Blessings, Mary Elisabeth 

To truly abide and adore Him

I'm pressed to begin sharing again what God is teaching me and about life. He is filling my heart and soul with His presence and care, even though I struggle daily!  I have been recovering from surgery and so I have been dependent on the Lord and my loved ones to care for me.  The Lord uses every circumstance in our lives to teach and strengthen us... if we listen and respond. It is so hard to constantly be shaped and molded, but if we had no struggles then would we need Him?

 

 

  I used to think that if I worked really hard to reach the goal of something (like being patient) that the trial to strengthen me would be over. Well...that's not how it works. I will never be perfectly patient or perfect in anything, hence my need for constant care from the Father to teach me. 

 

I just read some of my favorite biographies. Elisabeth Elliot, is one of my heroines.  Her husband went to the Auca Indians in Ecuador as a missionary and friend and they murdered him and several of his dear missionary friends. She forgave them and later took their daughter and lived among these same people to continue her husbands work of spreading the gospel!  Can you imagine??  Forgiving and then going back with your little girl and living among the people who murdered your precious husband.

 

"I realized that the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly to pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done.”
― Elisabeth Elliot, Passion and Purity: Learning to Bring Your Love Life Under Christ's Control    

 

Then I read about Susanna Wesley and how she birthed 19 children, but 9 of her precious babies did not live past infancy. She then struggled with a difficult marriage, her home burning twice, persecution from the town, imprisonment in her older age (for her deceased husbands unpaid debts), much hardships with her adult children's lives and other constant struggles. BUT, she continued to be faithful to her Lord, teaching her children diligently and leading others to Christ her entire life.  Her legacy lives on in her sons work. Charles wrote many hymns that we love and sing still like,"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and Christ the Lord is Risen today" and 6,000 other hymns! Her son John is the is credited with the foundation of Methodism.

 

I finished today re-reading about Corrie Ten Boom.  She was angry and did not want to forgive the persecutors from WW2, the years and years of persecution they endured and the loss of her dear sister and father through it all. But in her old age she was face to face with one of the officers who had persecute her in the concentration camp.  He asked for her forgiveness and it took all of her strength as she remembered that "forgiveness is an act of will- not an emotion". As she reached out her hand to shake his, she said an incredible thing took place. "The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. 'I forgive you brother!, I cried. 'With all my heart!'" "I had never known God's love so intensely as I did them. But even so, I realized it was not my love. I had tried, and did not have the power. It was the power of the Holy Spirit!"

 

If these precious saints can press on well,

then so can you and I. 

The Lord was faithful and now they are all in eternal glory! 

 

 

 I'm clinging to Him and His promise that His love will never let me go. I John 4:12-13, "If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit."

Isn't it Amazing that He has given us His Spirit and helps us!  If we constantly remember that and seek to glorify Him,

then we will have the strength to persevere! 

 

Life is truly difficult...some days are easier than others full of grief, depression, anger, insecurities, pain and the list goes on.

  Let's press on to Abide in Him and to Adore Him when life is heavy and when life is sweet.

 

“O my Lord, in Thine arms I am safe; keep me,

and I have nothing to fear; give me up, and I have

nothing to hope for. I know nothing about the

future, but I rely upon Thee. I pray Thee to give

me what is good for me; I pray Thee to take from

me whatever may imperil my salvation. I leave it

all to Thee, because Thou knowest and I do not. If

Thou bringest pain or sorrow on me, give me grace

to bear it well, keep me from fretfulness and selfishness.

If Thou givest me health and strength and

success in this world, keep me ever on my guard

 

lest these great gifts carry me away from Thee.

Give me to know thee, to believe on Thee, to love

Thee, to serve Thee, to live to and for Thee. Give

me to die just at that time and in that way which

is most for Thy glory. Amen."

 

John Henry Newman

 

Here is a beautiful song to encourage you in your walk!  

Abide with me

 

 



Abiding and Adoring,  Mary Elisabeth

Life's Heaviness

Life is hard. November each year comes around... I love fall, it's my favorite season. But then it's my Samuel's Birthday on the 8th. I really love birthdays and celebrating people, but it's so hard when he is not with us. I know heaven is unimaginably better and I wouldn't want to take him from Glory with the Father, but I also feel such pain in my heart that he isn't here. He would be so kind, genuine, tall, handsome and the sweetest. He was an incredible servant of the Lord while on the earth and in his death, and I'm so thankful. He is a truly loved and missed son, brother, grandson, cousin and friend.

Now as I anticipate Samuel not being here in his day I must also grieve for my mama. You see, she died the next day after Samuel's birthday last year. She was wonderful, always full of love and life. She went to bed in the 8th and that next morning was in Glory. So the 9th now is a wonderful day for mama, but is terribly painful for us here on earth! She was an incredible mother, grandmother, wife, daughter, sister and friend. 

Her legacy lives on and her amazing example of serving others will always be remembered. She touched so many lives by being there for others, making meals for those in need, teaching for many years to little ones and investing in her family, church and community.

    The Lord gave me several verses to cling to after Samuel left us and I cling to them still, especially after losing mama. I even have this one in ink on my foot as a constant reminder.

I pray that you are encouraged to live your life in honor to the Lord and serving Him like Samuel and mama did.

 With a joy in the midst of pain, with love in the midst of sadness because of knowing that one day we will be rescued from the pain of earth and be in Heaven with the Lord, healed and whole!  Here is a pic a friend made for us of what Samuel's heavenly body would be, standing and healed! 

Please pray for us all as we anticipate next week and get through the days. ❤️

***Please JOIN us in doing acts of service in their memory!!! 

Family heirlooms

💐Precious Harper, my brother and sister in loves baby, was baptized yesterday and what a special occasion it was! It was also Mothers day and 6 months that our darling Mama has been in heaven. We all wore gorgeous white flower corsages to honor mama (pictured below made by my dear friend, thepoppiesandpeonies.com)

💐 It was a joy to have Harper to celebrate along with Elias' 1st birthday (my nephew)! Also she wore the beautiful dress that my great grandmother, Cora McCown Smith made for me, August 1977. After I wore it, my sisters wore it and now all of our daughters have worn it. 

Gracie~January 2000

Annaleigh~ April 2001

💐Also, the baptismal chalise is a family heirloom that has been passed down through the years. First used in 1860, it is Harper and my children's third great grandmother's chalise. What a beautiful legacy and heritage we have. 

💐Psalm 78:6 "So the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands."