O Death, where is thy sting?

Mike Ratliff on the death of his mother.

1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 (NKJV) 

Earlier this week I took a a few days off to drive to Pawhuska, OK, stay in a cabin at the Osage Hills State Park near there, and take scenic and wildlife pictures at that park and at the nearby Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, which has one of the largest Bison populations in the United States.  In any case, I got my Bison pictures on Thursday, got back to my cabin then received a call from my sister that our Mother had died. She was 91 and had been in hospice care for the last several weeks. Her death was not a surprise. It was expected and both of us expressed relief that she was no longer suffering and was now with her Saviour as promised in the Word. On the other hand, there is now a person we love dearly who is missing. We comfort ourselves with the fact that my Mother was a woman of faith. She knew and loved her Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ. I also know from Sacred Scripture that I will also go home to be with my Saviour in His timing and will also see both of my parents and all those loved ones who have passed before me again.

Here is a link to my Mother’s Obituary.