Encourage Me: Absolute Perfection

“Though my mother is an imperfect woman, her love for those she cares about is absolute perfection.” (Robert A. Kinker, oldest child and author of, Dear God, Please Make Me the Person My Dogs Think I Am: the Chi Lessons)

I can’t be the only one that feels this way. The older I grow as an adult child, the more thoughts creep into my mind that my parent (in her mid seventies) will one day die. That’s where I must put a stop to my thoughts because if I don’t my brain will have an unneeded funeral planned out for my living, healthy mother in detail.

A song that perfectly describes my mother’s life is Ray Boltz’s 1988 “Thank You.” I adore the lyrics to this song because I have a role with my mother in the lyrics. When I hear this song, and think of my mother, I want to cry. As you read the words below, who do they remind you of?

I dreamed I went to heaven
And you were there with me;
We walked upon the streets of gold
Beside the crystal sea.
We heard the angels singing
Then someone called your name.
We turned and saw a young man running
And he was smiling as he came.

And he said, "Friend you may not know me now."
And then he said, "But wait,
You used to teach my Sunday School
When I was only eight.
And every week you would say a prayer
Before the class would start.
And one day when you said that prayer,
I asked Jesus in my heart."

Thank you for giving to the Lord.
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord.
I am so glad you gave.

Then another man stood before you
and said, "Remember the time
a missionary came to your church
and his pictures made you cry.
You didn't have much money,
but you gave it anyway.
Jesus took the gift you gave
and that's why I'm here today."

Thank you for giving to the Lord.
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord.
I am so glad you gave.

One by one they came
far as the eye could see.
Each life somehow touched
by your generosity.
Little things that you had done,
Sacrifices made,
Unnoticed on the earth
In heaven, now proclaimed.

And I know up in heaven
You're not supposed to cry
But I am almost sure
There were tears in your eyes.
As Jesus took your hand
And you stood before the Lord.
He said, "My child, look around you.
Great is your reward."

Thank you for giving to the Lord.
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord.
I am so glad you gave.

Thank you for giving to the Lord.
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord.
I am so glad you gave.[i]

“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say thank you?” (William Arthur Ward)

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to Heaven don't want to die to get there…Yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it…That is as it should be; because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.” (Steve Jobs)