Sunday, December 19, 2021

December 19

There are just a few days left to Christmas. Are you all ready? I must be honest, this has been a particularly rough week for Dennis and me. Amongst the joys of spending time with family and friends, we have experienced three deaths this week in our family back in Spokane. When I was a teenager and I worked in a nursing home with the elderly, we always said that death comes in threes. Seriously. It always came in threes. This week was no exception.  None of them passed from Covid. Just thought I’d put that out there right away.

First was a wonderful gentleman named Glade, who was a member of the church in Spokane. We had known Glade since our very first week of living there. He was a wonderful Bible believing man whose wife died several years ago. Glade was in his 90’s.

Then, on Thursday, our adopted mom Pearl died, with her daughter Debbie holding her hand. Pearl was Neal and Debbie‘s mom. They also have a brother Ralph. As you all know from previous posts, Neal and his wife Jenny are our very best friends. I have also grown close to Debbie over the years and we have spent time with Ralph at different family gatherings. Pearl has endured the last two years of almost constant lockdown in a Spokane nursing facility. Those lockdowns are super hard on people and places like that. She wasn’t even allowed to leave her room for the longest time. Her mental state declined and her physical state followed quickly. Pearl treated us like her very own kids and we loved her like a mother. She was a wonderful, wonderful lady and will be dearly missed by many. Pearl was 87 years young and had a huge smile and a bigger heart.

Then, just this morning as we arrived at our Sunday school class, we received a text that our longtime minister in Spokane had died. We knew it was eminent. Mark went on hospice on Monday when he had to stop dialysis because of various reasons. How fast things happened once the dialysis stopped! I can’t even begin to put into words what Mark meant to both Dennis and I. We were such great friends. He had the biggest booming laugh and the best sense of humor. And his singing voice? All I could think as we were singing in church this morning was that now Mark was singing with the great angelic choir and how wonderful it must sound to him. Mark had the biggest heart of anyone I know. And I seriously mean anyone I know. He would give the shirt off his back to anybody that needed it. His compassion knew no end. My heart breaks for his wife Karen and their three daughters. He was just one year older than my Dennis. Much too young to take his servant heart away at a time when this world needs it the most. 

You know how people always say nice things about people when they die and make them sound like they are a saint? I am not exaggerating any of this about Mark.  He was truly one of the kindest, most sincere and loving people I have ever known. He will be deeply missed.

So, life is not all a bed of roses here this Christmas. We also have two family members that are fighting Covid, although they both seem a little better than they were earlier in the week. We believe it’s the new omicron variant and yes, they have both been fully vaccinated and boostered. This is their second round of Covid. They had it a year ago last March, when this whole thing first began and now they have it again. It makes you wonder what anybody really knows about this virus doesn’t it?

So, with a heart that is rejoicing that all three of these wonderful Christian people are now in heaven with their Lord and Savior and rejoicing that their pain and time on this earth is over, my heart still hurts for their families that are left behind. Especially at this time of year.

I only have one photo to share with you today and that’s of my Advent stocking contents. I have had this sweet little snowman since before Dennis and I got married and the candy was a welcome gift this morning. I needed chocolate.





I’m so happy that we have more than this life to look forward to. I know I will see all three of these wonderful people again someday. I’m sorry if this has been a downer of a post, but I am just trying to keep it it real here. Real life does happen sometimes doesn’t it?  I did get a little knitting done today so far, but very little. It’s not even worth showing you about half of a sock cuff.

Wishing you all a wonderful remainder of your day and I’ll try to be more cheerful tomorrow. 
Blessings,πŸ’œ
Betsy




14 comments:

  1. Merry Christmas. I have not been on blogger for a while, I have been taking care of hubby. He has fallen 4 times this year and each time it is harder for him to get moving again. We are so blessed that he has not broken anything. Love your post. So sorry you lost so many dear people. We lost another sister this year, it has really hit us hard. We also lost a couple of cousins and covid has been running the rampart through our family. May the Lord bless you in the coming year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am so sorry for your recent losses. Big hugs coming from Canada!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yep. Real life does happen and we all can share in your sorrow. I am so sorry for your losses. It hurts anytime, but particularly at this time of year. Sending my condolences.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So sad to hear your three dear ones have died so recently. Death of loved ones hits us hard; in November a friend of mine died by suicide, she was only 62. It is frustrating and worrisome when double vaxed people get Covid, the vaxes seem flawed. May God bless you this Christmas, we need the light.

    ReplyDelete
  5. God Bless you Betsy. So sorry to hear about your friends. May the Blessings of Christmas week lighten your hearts.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My sympathy and prayers on the loss of your friends. I am so sorry. It is such a sad and scary time. I am glad your family members are vaccinated. I know they are saying only 13% of those hospitalized are vaccinated. Praying we can get this under control soon. Our hospitals are cancelling procedures and surgeries due to numbers hospitalized and our governor has had to call up the National Guard to help.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm sorry for you losses. Hug those close to you....

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sorry for loss of your dear friends. So thankful for the promise of heaven. I got gifts wrapped yesterday afternoon. It's been raining alot lately. Hugs and prayers my friend, Becky. πŸ’œπŸŒΉπŸŒΉπŸŒΉπŸ™

    ReplyDelete
  9. Betsy, I'm sorry for you and the families of your dear friends. The good news is they all knew and loved the Lord. I read something the other day . . . not sure where, but it went something like this: if you went into your garden to pick a bouquet, which flowers would you pick first? The most beautiful of course. It helped me and seeing that our Lord is picking some of the most beautiful people to take home and be with him right now. If we're still here then we need to be open to serve Him in any way he calls us to do so. He still has a reason for us to be here. I pray each day that I will gain more of Christ and put to death my selfish ways and in doing so I hope that I become a beautiful flower ready for picking by our wonderful Savior. Knowing that I am a sinner saved by grace and grace alone. My hope is in Him.
    Merry Christmas sweet friend.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Deepest sympathy to you and Dennis on the loss of these three dear ones. May the Lord comfort you and also their families.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am so sorry Betsy to hear of your losses. It's so cruel this time of year. My grandmother died on Christmas Day so I know the pain all too well.

    Daughter and I have a friend who invited her parents to come up from FL to spend Christmas. Three days after arriving last week the dad came down with....you know it. Covid. He's in ICU now fighting for his life but at 90 it doesn't look good. It's heartbreaking. She took every precaution to keep them safe even not allowing her son to come home since he tested positive. It's seems they must picked it up on their journey up here. She's out of her mind with guilt and grief as well as worry for herself and her family that were in the house with her parents. I am so worried for Daughter and her little one to be. I want to lock her in a closet.

    ReplyDelete
  12. So sorry for your losses!! I know it doesn't seem like much, but one simple thing we can do to help protect ourselves is to take vitamin D. It seems to be somewhat protective. I am taking 15,000 units a day, a lot, but I get very little sun this time of year. Vitamin C and zinc help build up our immune systems. Small things to do, yes, but they may help strengthen our bodies.

    ReplyDelete
  13. So sorry to hear of so many deaths, be comforted in the fact that they are in Jesus arms. My sympathy to you and Dennis. :(

    ReplyDelete
  14. I am SO sorry to hear of all the grief and heartache. You and Dennis have my deepest sympathy.

    ReplyDelete