Countdown to 30: Day 5

From August 2007 until October 2008, it seems that my life was filled with dealing with death. I went to just a few less funerals during that time than I had been to in my whole life up to that point. However, when you are faced with death, you learn quite a bit about life.

In August 2007, my second mother died. Ms. Brenda had been my second mother from before I was born. She was a constant in my life. When it would storm when we were kids, we would head to Ms. Brenda's house. Many days were spent watching her son and my dad play video games. She was always at our birthday parties, and always "lost" our Christmas presents. When we moved to Ft. Worth, it was always her house that we returned to when we came home to Texarkana. Although she did not come to my high school graduation, she was there for college and law school graduation and watched me get my law license in Austin. She kept Texarkana people updated on my progress and kept my family informed of all of the Wake Village news.

During the summer of 2007, Ms. Brenda went to Houston to see family she had not seen in years. She went to see her daughter, which was usually reserved for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She stopped by my parents house on her way back. My mom came in the weekend of her birthday. Many of the babies that she had brought up in the nursery came in to visit that summer and saw her. She worked the church directory photo night on Monday and saw many friends. I had lunch with her on Tuesday. On Thursday I had a phone call that she had died suddenly. Even though it was tough to deal with, I immediately saw God's grace in her death. She had been able to tell many people that she cared about and did not see often goodbye. She died suddenly instead of after a long illness, and had been doing what she loved right before she died - taking care of a baby.

Ms. Brenda was a staple in the nursery at First Baptist Church Wake Village, where I was enrolled on the cradle roll. For 30+ years she was faithful to sit in her rocking chair and take care of babies. She was overjoyed to be caring for the babies of babies she had when she first started working in the nursery. For 30+ years the church did not have to worry about who would work with the babies in the nursery because there was never a question. It would be Ms. Brenda. She did not stop caring for the babies once they were no longer babies though. She always wanted to know what was going with her babies, and she was always overjoyed if one of her babies returned to Texarkana as an adult. Anyone with big news was expected to stop by the nursery and inform Ms. Brenda!

There is something really beautiful about a servant of God dying. After years of serving, Ms. Brenda entered into the rest of God. She was able to see the face of the One whose love she had been showing for so many years. Although she is missed terribly, especially in the preschool building, there is the hope of seeing her again along with many other faithful servants who have gone on to eternal rest. After seeing Jesus in the faces of many babies, she is seeing Him face to face. Because of that, there is reason to rejoice!