⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

The beginning of this year, our family had to say goodbye to the Matriarch of our family; my mother.

The final few days of her life, my siblings and I were able to spend quality time with her and without a doubt we knew how much she loved us and how much we loved her; as well as her many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

She left a legacy of loving others, being kind to others, but the most important thing my mother ever imparted to me in the fifty eight years I had with her, here on this earth was “give everything to God in prayer”. Not just the big scary things we go through in life, but everything.

She taught all of us that no one knows that battle others are going through, so be kind. Kindness costs nothing, but can spread like wildfire if you allow it to take root. If you can’t say anything helpful or nice, keep your mouth shut; there’s enough hate in the world, without us adding to it.

As Thanksgiving approached this year, I was really struggling to be kind to family members and “holding it all together”, as now I was the oldest female in the family; whether I liked it or not, by all accounts I felt like the title of matriarch fell on me. No one said it did, but somewhere in my crazy brain, I assumed that I had to have it all together and figure every little thing out….until I remembered those precious words she said to me every time I would call her and fret over something. Give it to God.

As a Christian, for over 48 years, I know that I know that I know, God listens to prayer and prayer is very powerful; actually, in my opinion, the most powerful tool/weapon that we have in our arsenal, along with The Word of God, aka The Holy Bible.

Grief is funny though. You can know all of that, and still you are lost. As an adult, I spoke to my mom daily, sometimes twice a day and I cherish all those times that she made time to listen, even if the only advice she gave was “give it to God”.

It’s been almost 11 months that she has been gone. I am glad I was with her when she took her final breath. I know she was ready to go Home and meet her Creator face to face and see our dad again; see her parents and the siblings of hers that went on before her. And we couldn’t beg her to stay, because that’s not how our family rolls. But saying that final goodbye will forever be etched in my memory.

I will be forever grateful to both of my parents that they taught all of us early on that Jesus is our Hope, without Him, life is chaotic and messy at best; with Him it may still be chaotic, it may still be messy, but because of His sacrifice on the cross, our sins are forgiven. He is a loving Father that wants only the best for His children and He is always available, every second of every day when we need to bend His ear.

So, I guess in sharing all this with you, I am saying, don’t wait until your difficult times come or try to do everything in your own strength and power, because ultimately it won’t last. Only by the strength of Jesus Christ will His plans for your life prevail.

Jesus can turn any mess into a message and any test into a testimony, if you let Him. He loves you and will meet you right where you are. No need to be cleaned up. He loved you enough to die for you; I am going to do my best to start being bold in living for Him.

Merry Christmas to all who take the time to read this and until next time, God Bless Everyone!~Carlene