Dear Granny,
This morning at 1:00 a.m. I had very little to say about your birthday. Fatigue had set in and it seemed sufficient and appropriate to simply echo what Sandee had written. That was a mistake. You deserve better. A birthday wish that has grown into its own blog post. So here we go....
Happy 70th Birthday to my dear mother-in-law. It seems like just a short time ago that I darkened the door of the Hill household on Sycamore Ave. in High Grove Estates. Even though you sort of knew me, I was instantly welcomed by you and you loved me simply because your daughter had loved me first. This is a trait that you have passed on to her and one by which your grandchildren have been richly blessed.
You have been my biggest fan and, at times, my harshest critic (A River Runs Through It comes to mind:)). Through it all you have desired to see God conform me to the image of His Son.While we'll agree that He has had His work cut out for Him in this regard, you never doubted that I was not beyond the reach of His grace.
I have treasured our early morning cups of coffee as we discussed weighty theological matters and things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. I think we even managed to discuss golf and football during some of those mornings. These have been precious times. Undoubtedly we have both grown during these mornings, even though they were enjoyed in the midst of the slumber and sloth of the sleeping bodies that surrounded us.
You have never treated me as anything less than your own son, and have never made the distinction that so often marks the "in-law." As my own mother's faculties gradually left her, you were there to stand in the gap. You loved my parents as you loved your own, and treasured the special relationship you had with them. For that I will ever be grateful.
I know today is bittersweet. God has graced you with 70 years on this earth. Many of these years have been difficult, casualties of God's refining fire. The road that led you to Him was not without its pain. And the pain did not subside but perhaps was experienced more acutely after He brought you to Himself.
Today marks not only the anniversary of your birth but of another anniversary of sorts--a partial one marking Rusty's death. I'm guessing the pain after these nine months has only scarcely subsided, and in many ways is more raw as shock continues to give way to reality. In its aftermath you have had to endure other losses and even persecution from unlikely and unexpected places.
But today besides observing the conflicting anniversaries of Rusty's death and your 70 years, God gives us another reason to stop, relect and celebrate. Only God would have known 9 months ago that this day would also be Easter-Resurrection Sunday. How gracious of Him, that in the bittersweet day that is a combination of gratitude and sorrow and grace and grief and confusion that He brings your gaze back to His son. He brings you back to a place that you never left, but one that at times has perhaps has been difficult to flee to. A place that you knew was true but one that felt dangerous to cling to.
I pray today and in the days ahead you can cling to the all-sufficiency of Jesus. What a testimony to other believers and an enduring legacy to your grandchildren that you can speak and live and glory in the Cross of Christ in the midst of your darkest times. He indeed makes all things new and is with us despite these momentary afflictions that will dim under the brightness of His eternal glory.
I still believe you will outlive me. My recent experience in the heart cath lab did nothing to shake this belief:)!
But in the meantime, I look forward to as many years as God sees fit to bless us with. I will look to you as an example of how to look to Jesus in one's darkest hours. And I trust he will keep us both close by His side until we see Him face-to-face.
I Love You Granny! Happy Birthday!
