Monday, January 24, 2011

Dear Friends and Family,

This is Rebekah.

This is it. God has called my dear mom home...He has totally healed her and made her perfect! Her pain is over, no more death...total happiness. She has seen the face of her Maker and gets to worship Him in His presence.
So much has happened in this past week...so much pain but all ending in Heaven. Mom became quite weak and our nurse ordered a hospital bed so she wouldn’t have to move around. Mom wasn’t in too much pain and mentally she was all there till Thursday night. Thursday evening was the turning point. Mom began having terrible pain and started to get confused. All she wanted us to do was sing her to Heaven. This request turned into 3 nights of singing with many family members from Winsor and the US. over Skype. Mom was able to sing with us the first night, she also talked a bit...but mostly she was just asking that we sing her home and that it would be soon. Friday our nurse gave mom morphine injection to help with the pain..and mom slept all day. Anytime she woke up for a few minutes she would mention something about singing on Skype that night. That night our pastor came and we all sang again, but this time mom kept drifting of and only spoke a few words. Saturday mom was awake for a whole of 20 minutes all day...most of that was during singing(we were trying to keep her awake). She could hardly comprehend what was going on. She managed to say hello to her parents when they came on for a few minutes but that was it. Jakob and I went up to North Bay(I was singing on the worship team Sunday morning) for the night...both knowing it would probably be the last time we would ever see her. Saturday night went by peacefully. Sunday morning dawned clear, sunny and just beautiful. I went to church early for practice and dad called me saying that mom had a matter of hours to live. Her breathing had become laboured and her system was slowing down. Dad said he would call me when anything happened and told me to pass the news on to our pastor. During the worship service I was touched by the love the filled our church and that in Christ we can have joy and sing praises to Him in our deepest sorrows. After the sermon the worship team got up and we sang “Oh Victory in Jesus” and closed the service. As I walked off the stage Jakob handed me my phone and it rang. It was dad calling to say she had just taken her last few breaths. She was at peace........


Dad was here with mom all morning, already grieving, trying to confort her and prayed with her(she was sleeping). The nurse came in the morning and said mom had only a few more hours to live. This was when dad called me. For the rest of the morning things were quiet. Around 12:20 dad went to turn some music on for mom and as he did she opened her eyes...he walked over to her and she breathed her last. She got her wish...she was escorted home with music. She was called peacefully home at 12:24 Sunday afternoon..January 23.
When us kids came home from church dad had one last devotional around mom; almost every night we used to do devotions around the table after dinner and we would sing a song. We had so many beautiful moments together as a family around that table....but yesterday was one of the most beautiful. It was the most painful...but we were here in our brokenness giving God the love and glory He alone deserves. Watching my dad and both my siblings giving their all to God in this time is truly a miracle. We sang the Doxology(well tried to) and closed it off. This is the beginning of a new chapter in our lives....we don’t know what’s going to happen but we know God is in the future with open arms. We pray for strength in this time...especially for dad. He now has to take on the responsibility of both parents but is only half of who he was before. He and mom have been together for a whole of 21 years (21st anniversary would be on February 3rd), 21 years of always being there for each other.....being one. God will meet him where he is and give him all the comfort he needs.

This is the last blog to be written here. This chapter is closed but not to be forgotten. God has shown His greatness through it all. Sadly some people are bitter over her passing and I am asking you all to think of how she would take your bitterness? God is God and will do everything for His glory and our good...leading to our perfection. Thank God for this, thank Him for the pain and the joy. Being bitter will only make it worse for you. Mom knew with full assurance where she was going and she knew why she was going there. Christ was her reason to live and die. Satan has lost this battle death has been defeated and Hell can never claim her. When you reach your death bed will you be able to say the same? Will you go before Gods judgment seat and hear from Him “Well done good and faithful servant”...or will you be lost for all eternity? Heaven is a real place and she is there!!!! Hell is also real and is also forever. God is calling you....Christ died to save us and to bring us back to Himself. Do not be hardhearted. Mom lived as a great example of Christ....keep her memory alive and don’t disregard it by turning your back to her reason for living.

I will leave you all with the scripture that dad read to us yesterday
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

I have a blog that I will keep on updating. http://phoenix-with-a-heartache.blogspot.com/
We thank you all for being beside us and upholding us in prayer through this time.

In Christ and in His name alone!
Rebekah

The God on the mountain is still God in the valley....

11 comments:

  1. Rebekah.........ty so much I can already see part of my sister in you!!!!!and Jesse and Jakob...even though i miss her dearly I will always see a part of her in you guys!!!!

    Love you all so much
    xoxoxoxoxo

    Uncle Ed

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  2. Hello there, I am Beth Janssen's sister and she directed me to your blog. Just wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss but how grateful to hear such a beautiful, Christian confession. As a mom myself, I know your Mom would be so proud to hear those precious words from her daughter's heart.May God bless you all as you mourn, heal, and rejoice that your mom is in heaven. What blessed assurance.

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  3. Rebekah,

    Thanks so much for this. God's grace is shining so beautifully in your example! I am continuing to hold you and the rest of the family in prayer.

    Your friend,
    Jesse

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  4. Thank you for giving us a testimony of Miriam's powerful and faithful witness. May God bless you with His peace and comfort.

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  5. Becka - You couldn't have written that more beautifully. You most certainly are your mothers daughter - inside and out - beautiful. Thank you for sharing your precious last memories of your mother with us all. I will always keep you all in my prayers.
    Love,
    Klare

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  6. Praise God from whom all blessings flow . . .

    Dear Nandor, Rebekah, Jessica, and Jakob,
    We rejoice with you in that Miriam is now completely healed and experiencing joy in the Lord more fully than ever before; we grieve with you in that you have lost your dear wife and mother, and we have lost a very precious friend. May the Lord surround you with His loving kindness and enable you to continue to treasure Jesus as the One in whom you find your supreme pleasure, even in the midst of pain.

    Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side;
    Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
    Leave to thy God to order and provide;
    In every change He faithful will remain,
    Be still my soul: Your best, your heavenly Friend
    Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

    Be still my soul: thy God doth undertake
    To guide the future as He has the past.
    Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake;
    All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
    Be still my soul: the waves and winds still know
    His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

    Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
    And all is darkened in the vale of tears;
    Then shall you better know His love, His heart,
    Who comes to soothe your sorrow and your fears.
    Be still, my soul: your Jesus can repay
    From His own fullness all He takes away.

    Be still, my soul, the hour is hastening on
    When we shall be forever with the Lord,
    When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
    Sorrow forgot, loves purest joys restored.
    Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past,
    All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

    Looking forward to that great day,
    With love and prayers until then,
    Lorna

    P.S. Thank you for your beautiful post, Rebekah!

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  7. Very sorry for loss, she will be lived through you. Very beautiful person. Lorelei Goodchild

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  8. Dear Rebekah,
    What a dear and wonderful mother you had! Her life and death are a testimony to God's amazing grace. Her testimony at the summer picnic at the DeHaan's place where we met her is a precious memory for us. I have never met anyone who had such a vibrant testimony while facing inevitable death. No one should ever doubt the reality of the Christian faith after they have met her.

    I can imagine the angels singing and the Lord waiting to receive her. What joy for her. But sorrow for you. Jesus' promise is that He will always be with those who trust in Him. Please give our regards and extend our sympathy to your siblings and your father.

    Pastor and Ricky Pronk - per Ricky

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  9. Dearest Rebekah,
    Thank you so much for the posting. I can't begin to describe how your mom's life and testimony have affected my life. In spite of my heavy heart at the sorrow of your loss, I read your posting and couldn't help but rejoice... for her and the glory she is experiencing right now and on account of you, that her precious faith and love continue to live on so evident and lively in you and your family.
    Praying that God's love and comfort would continue to be your strength.
    Deb de Haan

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  10. Dear Rebekah,

    I am so sorry for the loss of your mom, although I have no doubt that she is at peace with Jesus. Your mom and I attended several bible studies in times past (Highview Baptist Church), and I have often talked to my husband and Lesley Hurley about going north to visit her. We talked too long. I also had no idea about this blog until today! After reading through some of your mom's recent posts, it is obvious she lived with alot of love - you and Jessica look like her twins!

    Please tell your dad that our family has prayed for your family and will continue to do so.

    Rich and Kim Warren

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  11. Missing my Sister....


    Love your Bro
    Ed

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