It was the phone call nobody ever wants to receive. I will not forget it. I had just returned from Houston where I visited one of our students who had been involved in a car wreck and was in the hospital. I had not been home very long when I received that phone call that changed my life.
My mother had a heart attack and they took her to to the Emergency Room. I rushed to the hospital but by the time I arrived she died. When I walked in the room where her body lay the reality sunk in that Momma was gone. Some family members were also in the room.
My mother suffered from bad health for a long time. The last months of her life were spent in hospitals and nursing homes. Those months were difficult months for her and the rest of the family.
The day before she died I visited her in her nosing home. We talked and I treasure that conversation. We talked about Taylor. She watched Taylor while Brenda and I worked for the first year of his life. She had only seen and held Tanner once.
My mother had a massive heart attack on February 14, 1998. Two weeks later God blessed Brenda and I with Tanner. Momma saw Tanner one time. While in the hospital she fought an infection and the doctor did not want an infant in the room around the infection. When the infection cleared we introduced her to Tanner. Brenda took a picture of that moment. Momma sat up in a hospital bed with tubes holding that baby boy. That proved to be the first and only time she would ever see or hold Tanner. He is seventeen years old now.
In my last conversation with Momma she asked about Taylor and Tanner. Then she told me she was tired. She even mentioned that she would not be around much longer. Her words were prophetic. When she said she would not be around much longer I reassured her of her eternal destination since she trusted Christ as her Savior. When I said that she broke out in a huge grin. I told her I loved her and kissed her on the cheek. I did not know that would be the last time I would see my mother alive.
She died the Friday of Mother's Day weekend. We buried her the following Monday and I preached her funeral. Mother's Day always reminds me of her of course but also of the fact we lost her that weekend back in 1998.
When I purchased her grave marker I wanted to put a special message on it. Here is what I had engraved on the granite. "I will meet you at the pearly gates." My family visited her grave this past summer while on vacation. It is hard to believe it has been 17 years. It is harder to believe that my mother never met Tucker, now 15, or Turner, now 11.
So much has happened in the past 17 years. Brenda and I have moved five times during those years all over the state of Texas. We have served four different churches during that time. Taylor and Tanner, our two oldest boys, are now driving and Tucker will start his driver's education this summer. It is hard to believe my mother did not get to enjoy her grandsons.
I am convinced my mother would never leave Heaven to come back to us. One day we will all go to her. Therefore we grieve as those who have hope.
Here is the point. Tell your mothers and fathers you love them. Talk to them about Jesus before it is too late. Reconcile with them if possible. Make the most of the time you have left with them. One day they will be gone. I am so thankful God allowed me that last conversation with my mother. She knew I loved her and we spoke of her salvation in Jesus. What a blessing.
Momma, I will meet you at the pearly gates.
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