  Heavenly Father, We are thankful to be made whole and holy by your love. Amen!
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 John Christopher's first haircut, 1962. Mom looked sooo happy to be a mom! She's also pregnant with Douglas in this photo.  Proud Dad and his boys, 1963 It’s two months ago today that Mom passed away. We miss her a lot. These slides are taking me on an incredible journey. Each shot is like a time capsule bringing me through forgotten, happy memories of the past, sadness for our present deep loss, and hope for the future. One day we'll all be reunited again in heaven--young, happy, and completely whole. Several years ago I heard Rev. Gary Wood speak at our church about his experience in heaven. Yes, he went to heaven! You can read about it in his book, A Place Called Heaven, here . I highly recommend it. It gives a glimpse of his experience in heaven and what our loved ones may be experiencing now. “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night-- but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.” Psalm 139:7-12  Just 25 years-old and taking care of three little ones while Dad worked all day-- that must have been very difficult! (L to R: Douglas, Kathy, John C.)  Nana, Mom's mom, visiting us at Christmas, 1964. If you subscribe to the four temperaments theory, I notice from these photos how our personalities (in general) are developed even at this young age! John C-- exuberant sanguine, Douglas-- peaceful phlegmatic, and Kathy-- quiet melancholic... Interesting!!  Love those caps! “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” Psalm 139:13-16 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;” Jeremiah 1:5 What happy thoughts do you have of your Mom?
 By all these lovely tokens September days are here, With summer's best of weather And autumn's best of cheer. Helen Hunt Jackson  Sleepy kitties aren't ready for summer to end!  For those who’ve experienced loss, you might identify with these quotes from C.S. Lewis’ A Grief Observed, “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear,” and “The death of a beloved is an amputation.” Ironically, on this roller-coaster called ‘grieving’ we also have these powerful promises from God’s Word, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed,” Psalm 34:18 (NLT) and “[The Spirit of the Lord] has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,” Psalm 61:1 (NKJV). Amazing! I purchased a device that allows me to scan Dad’s slides to my computer. I am pretty speechless to see these romantic photos of Mom and Dad, ages 21 and 26. The love and joy I see on their faces is beyond words. These were taken the week after their wedding on July 8, 1960 at the "Honeymoon Capital of the World"--- Niagra Falls!  Outside their beautiful cabin
 Lake view near their cabin?  Fun in town
 Beautiful newlywed  Our rhododendrons  "On this June day the buds in my garden are
almost as enchanting as the open flowers. Things in bud bring, in the heat of a June noontide, the recollection of the loveliest days of the year - those days of May when all is suggested, nothing yet fulfilled." - Francis King  "It's a big world out there, Tater!"  "To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken.
If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves  This was an epic birthday, full of surprises!  I felt very LOVED!  Thank you, Jesus, for your love...  And the loved ones You've given me...  to enjoy this life with!   My Mom used to make frosted sugar cookies as a little girl and LOVES them. She tells the story how one time they misplaced a tin of frosted Christmas cookies and found them around Easter time... She said they were even more delicious--like finding 'gold'! I hoped these cookies would bless my Mom and maybe jog some of those happy memories of her childhood. I Love You, Mom! I tried a new (to me) recipe that I thought was similar to cookies we made together when I was little. Click here for recipe. Sooooo goood!  My Mom, Mary Anne Jakubowski (2012)  These quotes all touch my heart and perfectly express my thoughts of my Mom. How about you? "Life began with waking up and loving my mother's face." George Eliot • "The love of a mother is the veil of a softer light between the heart and the heavenly Father." Samuel Taylor Coleridge • "It may be possible to gild pure gold, but who can make his mother more beautiful?" Mahatma Gandhi  A prayer for my friends who's mothers have preceded them in death: May the God of all comfort surround you with arms of love, as surely as your mother's arms cradled you. Blessed hope that you will be re-united with her for all eternity. In Jesus' name, Amen. p.s. I'm sure she's more anxious to see you than you are her!  "As you may know, our goal is to change the culture by publishing great books with strong moral values. We do not consider LPC to be a "Christian publisher," although most of our authors and editors would probably call themselves Christians....
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