They remember my world

I helped serve a public dinner on Sunday. I recognized the older couple and when I saw the lady I thought of my mother. She must be nearly the same age as my mother. Chatter was light as they passed through the food line. After they had eaten the gentleman came to me. When he and his wife sat down, he said, his wife asked, “Is that Goldie?” 

I was touched that she would remember my mother. I reached out and said, “Hug your wife for me. I am so touched that she remembered my mom.”

“Do I have to?” he grinned. 

A while later I got to thank the woman myself. “I miss her so much,” I said.

“I understand,” she said.

A woman came through the line. “You’re Goldie’s daughter, aren’t you?” 

I was surprised again. “Yes, I am.”

“When you were going to get married—you were so young, the both of you—you came and bought a table and chairs from me.” 

I remembered immediately. But my surprise was that she remembered me! Again I was touched that someone had so much recall about my world.

I am thinking about how I told God I feel lost. I don’t know where I belong, I told him. I’m thinking that he is guiding me to figure that out. 

© 2014 Cathy Thomas Brownfield ~ All Rights Reserved

Say a little prayer

          “Father God,” I said, “No matter what they say or do, I will never leave you. Please don’t let them take you from me.”

          I faced a lot of issues at that time. (We face issues every day of our lives.) Next month will be five years since Dad died, starting the snowball down the mountain. It doesn’t show signs of stopping any time soon.

          The latest situation was the painful flu that struck our youngest daughter. It never leaves you, that desire to protect your child from the pain – physical and other. This “child” will be 27 next month. Hearing her voice over the telephone from more than 500 miles away caused such a feeling of helplessness. What could I do from so far a distance? Should I be on the road to get to her? Was it “just” the flu? Could it turn into pneumonia? (A lot of people who get the flu are going into pneumonia.) Of my four children, this is the one who gets sick … very sick.

          My friend, P, and I had a limited discussion about my God. She asked if my god is vengeful or forgiving. If he is so forgiving why is Cathy afraid of his judgment … or is Cathy just the dutiful daughter?

          Oh, my! Excellent question!

          My God is my heavenly father who has stayed with me when my dad wasn’t around – which was a lot of the time. When I haven’t had the strength to pick myself up, my God has carried me. When I need comfort, the assurance that I am not alone (which it seems I am a lot) he is with me. I guess I look at it as a parent-child sort of relationship … since he IS my heavenly father.

          Parents are supposed to discipline their children. A healthy fear of parents keeps us on the right path. When children honor and respect their parents they are rewarded. Parents don’t always like what their children say or do. They don’t have to. Kids don’t always like what their parents say or do. They don’t have to.  There is a little thing called “unconditional love” that covers it all. No matter what, one loves the other, no conditions, no strings attached. It just is. We are to hate the sin, not the sinner because every one of us has fallen short of the glory of God … or simply fallen short. We all are human. Love one another!

          When we look at it, what is more important: each little piece or the grand picture? Who is more important, the individual or society when used in the proper context? People who are uneducated or under-educated just don’t get it. Maybe nobody ever got it. What will be required if we are to survive?

(c) 2014 Cathy Thomas Brownfield ~ All Rights Reserved.