From one mary to another ...

Daughter. Sister.
                  Wife. Mother.
                            Grandmother. Great-grandmother.
                                                      Cousin. Mentor. Friend. Teacher ... 

To some, you were known as Mary. 
                 To others, you were Mom or Grandma. 
​                                     You were known as Mrs. Lamb to your students.

To me, however, you were ... and are ... Aunt Polly. I was partly named for you & ours was a special God-given relationship. One that I cherish deeper with each passing year that you are gone. 

I watched you embrace each God-given role with a grace that was so imperfect & yet, so very real. I desire to be real like that! You knew your own fallibility, failures & frailties; however, you used those very things to be a catalyst for you to rest in the Rock that never shakes, never breaks. In circumstances when we didn't see eye-to-eye, you reminded me that the LORD was still over all & He must be the One we both serve ... You entered into the glories of God's heaven six years ago today. You stepped into HIS eternal presence. From some of the stories I heard, you said: "Let me go" ... & then you left this world to be with the LORD you sought to serve on this earth. As much as I long to see you & hear your voice again ... as much as I want to talk about all I'm learning about the Word ... as much as I need to have a conversation or two with you, I wouldn't wish you back here. This world is a hotter mess than ever before! It's a sad state of affairs down here. I think of you in your new, glorified body & I rejoice! You know no pain in Heaven. You're able to walk again. You can skip and run into the Saviour's arms. Your beautiful hands & feet that became crippled and gnarled on earth due to the effects of rheumatoid arthritis ... they are straight again! You would tell me that that's not the main thing & I shouldn't focus on it. And you'd be right ... the main glory of Heaven is being in the very presence of the Creator of the universe. The One who ransomed us ... who redeemed us ... that we may live in His presence for all eternity.

As I think of you ... read your letters & cards ... remember some of our conversations, my heart aches for Heaven. I long to see you again. I long to worship the LORD with you for all eternity. The seeds of Gospel-centered living that you tried to sow have begun to take root & even bear fruit. Your legacy lives on ... in ways you'd never imagine. The love you possessed for the Word of God & the God of the Word, I am beginning to understand. Jesus REALLY is precious, Aunt Polly! There's an indescribable beauty that the King of glory truly possesses ... even when He doesn't act on my time schedule. 

Thank you for praying for me on a daily basis! Those prayers weren't in vain ... even when you never saw the outcome of them, the LORD has begun a new work. When you didn't know how to help me in the darkness, you took me to Jesus & placed me in His care. Thank you! That was the best possible thing you could do for me! I will forever be grateful. 

'Til we meet again ... at the throne of our God ...
I love you forever!