Come before Winter

This morning I was just about to leave my apartment and head to morning prayer when I received a call from my mother telling me that my Aunt Karen was dying and that she probably would not last the day.

I was shocked and devestated, but really I should not have been all that surprised. She'd been in Palliative Care for months and cancer had taken over her body. But despite all that, I had convinced myself that we still had plenty of time with her...well, at least until April. I was sure we'd have until April.

I also felt a little guilty that I had taken her continued presence for granted. I had all the good intentions of visiting her every day, and for a while I did that, but of course life interferes and it is difficult to maintain...a missed day turned into a missed week or two so easily. This past Saturday I remembered a passage from Paul's second letter to Timothy. "Do your utmost to come before winter" (NKJV, 2 Timothy 4.9). Paul was imprisoned and likely knew that his death was imminent. He also knew that if Timothy did not come soon, he would probably not be able to make the journey to him during the winter when the passage was trecherous and the Spring time would be too late.

I remembered that bit of scripture and went to see Auntie Karen on Saturday afternoon. Come before winter. She began deteriorating on Monday. I am so blessed to have been able to spend time with her on Saturday, she was alert and in good spirits, we talked about many things that afternoon and I kissed her and hugged her and told her that I love her.

Come before winter - its important to remember! We are given many blessings in this life and many opportunities to live God's blessings. For the most part I don't believe there needs to be an urgency surrounding our lives where we live in a state of panic that we'll miss something if we don't do it right away. However, I do think that we have to be mindful and aware that there are things that do need to be done sooner rather than later, that procrastination can rob us of opportunities to tell people how much they mean to us, and that we should not take anything or anyone for granted.

I saw Auntie Karen this morning. I'm not sure how aware she was but I blessed her and told her again how much I love her. She's surrounded by people she loves and I know that hers will be a good death.

Not a very upbeat posting I know, but I just wanted to remind people to "come before winter".

Erin+