Thankful Thursday

Stop by Thankful Thursday and share some thankfulness. Sam Senkfor from LuLaRoe had a contest. If you shared a grateful post with her each day on May you could win a piece of LuLaRoe. She inspired me although I am chasing puppies most days. Cats with chronic illnesses and dogs with diseases from which there will be no turning back. So whether it is an excuse or not I did not participate each day so far. But I have two big May dates etched on my heart, and I am thinking of what I can do to honor the people who passed away on these dates.

Some words from the 23rd Psalm are etched in stone on the gravestone of my parents. I think it offers great comfort that one day we will be together with all those we loved and lost.

I have always been told that white flowers are a symbol of loved ones passed away. At Mother's Day after I lost my own mom I was told to wear a white orchid because my mom was no longer of this earth. But here is the flower that reminds me most of my mother:

At my mother's funeral my older sister and I noticed snapdragons in the floral arrangement across the casket. My sister recalled my birth, five years after her own, when a neighbor brought our mom a bouquet of snapdragons from her garden. While the neighbor oohed and ahhed over me, my sister sat off to the side snapping the heads off those flowers. That is the story she told me and I now forever associate snapdragons with my mother.

I like to remember how my mom appreciated lilies. So here is a bouquet for you mom although I imagine if flowers bloom in heaven they are more delightful than these.

Sunflowers will remind me of a special friend I lost in 2014. Miz Mollye who had a lovely blog with the same name and later a blog titled fruit-of-the-spirit. We were paired up in a Mother's Day giveaway/exchange and there were rules to follow. Between the two of us, we could not figure out one of them! So we made a pact to never tell on each other. We decided no one would be the wiser because we were the two ladies exchanging gifts. I laugh out loud when I think of our sneaky little plan. After that we were sisters. Sisters in Christ and sisters in our minds only. We wrote cards and letters back and forth and one day she said she had to have some tests. She went into the hospital and she was gone. It broke my heart. It hurts today 5 years later that I will never talk to Mollye in this life again. Her death, very much like the death of my oldest sister Pat was so calm and peaceful for me even though it tore my heart to shreds. I knew how both of these precious souls felt about Jesus and it helped me cope. I think of their faith when I am rattled today, especially in the wake of the division in our country and the hate spilling over. Never does one moment of one day go by that I do not hear their voices in my heart saying, it is going to be alright. You are going to see me again. Keep your eye on Jesus.

I will see my sisters in Christ again. Tomorrow, I will share more.

My sister Pat: she was a garden of pretty posies.