Left Behind

There is a passage of Scripture that both my mom and I were obsessed with.

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

II Thessalonians 4:13-18

Now, I speak this with the authority (no one can say otherwise!) of talking daily with my mom, living next door to my mom, having been spiritually brought-up by my mom, attending multiple prophecy-related events, reading countless works on this matter together…

Jesus is coming again. He will gather his own in a “catching away” (also coined “rapture”) and we will be with Him.

Mom and I believed we would both see that day, but instead she got to see Him first. She left us on Monday.

Lucky lady.

Now, she was absolutely not fearing death, but the process of dying was a bit daunting for her. I will happily report that she passed peacefully, quickly, and I think sooner than some of us anticipated. The cancer that had been growing in her abdomen became the life-draining force.

This post is about my mom, but I will interject that I still ask the Lord, in Jesus’ name, according to His will, to be raptured with the church. I still want that. Like her, I dislike the thought and process of death. Selfishly, I want to just be snatched up to be with Him and all my loved ones in heaven.

Mom and I had the same thoughts, but she had to endure until the end. Here, in this life.

She did it well! She was gracious each and every day, until she lost consciousness, about three days before she passed.

A steady stream of friends came through and blessed her. They thanked her for the things she did for them in her long life, 92 years, or even in the past few years, as many of her “old” friends passed away.

Comfort one another with these words!

Mom is with Jesus now, because I believe the words from Scripture: Absent from the body, present with the Lord.

I also believe she is seeing those she knew who have passed long before.

Mom was a beautiful and intelligent woman. Her quiet life in a suburb of Minneapolis had quite the larger effect, worldwide.

The daughter of a minister, she was a life-long scholar of the Bible.

She loved to read, and her book list was beyond impressive. She was a speed reader, and her standards for what she put into her mind were truly stellar. She loved history, gardening, biography, and classics. She would read any “new” Christian book with a critical eye. Her serving on the church library committee was a source of joy for her for decades. I think no-one could possibly have read as many books as she at her church…but I can stand corrected. Her scope of knowledge was unparalleled in anyone I know.

She taught herself to play the piano, played a woodwind in her high school band, and graduated valedictorian. She served her church by playing the piano and singing in the choir. She loved to help at the nursing home church services, accompanying hymn singing, faithfully, for years.

She went to Northwestern College (now in Roseville, MN, but then, downtown Minneapolis).

She graduated from the Swedish School of Nursing in Minneapolis, and her nursing skills defined her for life. Her children were all raised with a keen sense of what was contaminated.

She loved the outdoors, mowing, and landscape planning. That landscape part she passed down to several of her offspring.

She was a capable artist, could paint and draw anything. One of her paintings adorns my wall in my bedroom. Of Norwegian descent, she enjoyed taking a class in rosemaling, a form of decorative painting. She had an artistic eye, and color and balance mattered to her. She was skilled in any hobby she attempted.

Her handwriting was distinctive and iconic (we all knew Juanita’s handwriting!) and her calligraphy skills were just lovely.

She was a perfectionist, and everything she did was with care and planning, whether writing, preparing food, or keeping her house clean.

Her dad was an Evangelical Free Church pastor, pastoring the same church in southwestern Minnesota for over 30 years, along with producing a radio program. She would often sing on the radio program. Her mom was the daughter of a traveling evangelist, Oscar C. Knutson. She was privileged to meet many great preachers and speakers growing up, and she often told little stories of how her mom made delicious meals for these special (and famous!) guests.

What interesting stories we heard about our grandparents and great-grandparents! They were an illustrious bunch!

Of her three children, one was a financial businessman, one in financial markets, and one (myself!) a teacher.

She married a teacher, but he became a businessman, and she was a great help to him. I think that anyone who knew them as a couple would agree that mom was simply the most important person to my dad, and he contentedly provided for her his whole life. They were married 65 years.

We children celebrated that marriage.

Among her grandchildren there are soldiers, musicians, artists, designers, computer techies, writers, world travelers, and home-schooling moms.

Her great grandchildren were a joy to her! She loved taking her oldest “great” to the arboretum, hosting Christmas smorgasbord with all of them, and encouraging them all in Scripture memorization.

She paid anyone in the family $500 to read the Bible through. Scripture was so incredibly important to her, and there was nothing she wouldn’t sacrifice for that to be passed down.

She was preceded in death by four of her children: her oldest son, two daughters-in-law, and a son-in-law.

She handled that with great strength and the sweetness of knowing a sovereign God.

She had the hope of II Thessalonians, chapter four!

My mom led people to the Lord, supported evangelical missions all over the world, faithfully served the Lord in her own congregation for decades. She prayed for people.

One of her personal rules was that she would not eat anything before she had read Scripture for the day. She truly valued the Word of God, and was led by it her entire life.

If I had a theological question she almost always knew pertinent Bible references to shed light on the answer.

She also “worked out her salvation in fear and trembling” even up to her last days! She took that command seriously! She never took her eternal salvation for granted.

She served the Lord faithfully. I am probably the prime witness of this, and I stand on my testimony of her faithfulness. Of course, many others would also say the same.

My mother and I both prayed for the salvation of everyone we know. I know her greatest desire was to see people saved: children, grandchildren, those we married, friends and relatives, neighbors.

I got this burning desire from her, I think. The missionary mindset is just a part of who we both are!

She wants to spend eternity with ALL of her loved ones.

So I choose to keep up that mission. I will never read as many books as she did, be as disciplined and perfect as she, in my own endeavors; she was uniquely Juanita!

But I can carry the mantle of a desire to see MANY come to Christ Jesus!

MARANATHA, Lord!

I look forward to seeing my mom again SOON!