P E A C E

Mary Marcia
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

 http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com/

I am praying for you today.  I'm praying for each person that is going through a time of grief and sadness.  I pray that the PEACE of GOD will guard your heart and mind. 

I've been through storms in life, too.

The day my mother died, she fell out of the chair that I used to sit in at the kitchen table.  We named the chair, "The Crying Chair,"  and the story I wrote about it and our family is published in the book,  A Cup of Comfort.

LINK:  http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-crying-chair.html

LINK: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show?id=253125702

A friend of mine said Mom didn't need The Crying Chair anymore because GOD wipes away all tears in Heaven.

The day Mom went to Heaven, my brother, Bret, called to tell me  Mom died. It took me about 40 minutes to get to Mom and Dad's house in Liberty, Missouri.  

I arrived at my parent's house and found Mom lying on the sofa in the living room, covered with a blanket, as if she had fallen asleep on the sofa.  The hospice nurse placed her there.  

I knelt beside the sofa and prayed.   I got up from my knees and  looked up.  There on the cornice board (the wooden valance) above the living room drapes were  large letters on  brightly colored  velvet posters that decorated the cornice board.  I recognized them as one of mom's coloring projects. 

LINK:  http://www.stuff2color.com/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Stuff2Color%20Bing%20Campaign&utm_term=fuzzy%20color%20posters

The letters spelled out  P E A C E.

Mom so liked to have the last word.

This was her "Amen" to my prayer.

Mom always spoke her mind, and her vicious words often wounded me and others so much that it made me physically sick to my stomach after I visited her.  Mom never approved of our adoptions,  never accepted my chosen children as her grandchildren, and she let me and our entire family know it.    

My beautiful chosen children, daughters:  Sarah Zheng-Kang and Faith Fu Ju.  Copyright 2002 Marcia Norwood

My beautiful chosen children, daughters:  Sarah Zheng-Kang and Faith Fu Ju.  Copyright 2002 Marcia Norwood

 

I discussed this heartbreak with our wise adoption social worker, Margaret. 

Margaret  challenged me:  "Are you able to have a relationship with your mother without your young daughters being present?  Your first priority is to protect your daughters, but your mother is dying, and she hasn't always been this mean, has she?  Don't do or say something that you will regret the rest of your life."

Mom and Marcia (on left).  Copyright 1949 Marcia Norwood

Mom and Marcia.  Copyright 1970 Marcia Norwood

 

Mom made peace with GOD before she died, but she never apologized for the hurtful things she said to me and my chosen children, so I decided to trust JESUS to straighten her out when she got to Heaven.

Mom's last word left on the wood cornice board 

was  "P E A C E."

I received it, and I felt it, too:   the kind of PEACE that the world can't give, and the world can't take away.

GOD's PEACE.

LINK:  http://www.gty.org/resources/positions/P21/the-gift-of-peace

That is my prayer for you now.

P E A C E amid this storm - this sadness in your life.

Trust GOD to bring you through this.

Not everything is reconciled on this side of Heaven.  We have all eternity to make peace with each other.

For now keep your eyes on JESUS  

He will calm the storm in your heart.

He will never leave you.

Here are  some promises from The Holy Bible:

Philippians 4: 6-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to GOD, and the peace of GOD, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 26:3
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

2 Corinthians 10:5
We demolish arguments  and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of GOD, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to CHRIST.

Ephesians 3:19
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of GOD.

Philippians 4:19
And my GOD will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in CHRIST JESUS.

Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of CHRIST rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

1 Peter 1:5
...who through faith are shielded by GOD's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time,

and the peace of GOD, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through CHRIST JESUS.

Here are some songs for your heart and mind.

Let them minister to you.

HE KNOWS MY NAME

SONG LINK:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXKWsfbizB4

 

BECAUSE HE LIVES

SONG LINK:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M-zwE33zHA

AMAZING GRACE/MY CHAINS ARE GONE

SONG LINK:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M-zwE33zHA

Thanks for stopping by!

Come back often, and invite a friend! 

Mary Marcia

America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

 http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com/