Rosemary Rickett 11-10-40 To 12-13-06

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. This scripture is one mom and I talked about a lot over the last month. She was ready to shed her earthly tent and go home to be with her Lord.

One of the first things Sarah and Jason told her when we arrived at the hospital on Wednesday was it was ok for her to let go now, we are all here.

Jason told her "Grandma, you are going to see your King, it's so awesome Grandma you are going to see your King."

It was less than a half hour later she was gone.

There are a lot of things we think about when we think about my mom. Things like she absolutely loved to have her feet rubbed and it was a very common thing for her to ask Sarah to rub her feet for her. Sarah was rubbing her feet up to the moment she passed on.

She had a sweet tooth, something she inherited from her dad. With a love of candy, Sees Butterscotch squares were her all time favorite. Her favorite sundae was Strawberry ice cream with marshmallow topping. She loved graham crackers with her homemade frosting in the middle.

There were many times we all remember her going to the store to get a birthday cake just because she loved the frosting. Sarah talked about the time her, Aunt Sharrie, cousin Christina and Grandma bought a birthday cake, which they all shared right out of the box. Her reasoning was why take it out of the box when they were just going to eat the frosting.

She loved music and some of her favorites were Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, and The Gaithers.

Conversations with her were always a learning experience. Because of her extensive love of books and movies it seemed as though she could have a conversation with anyone about anything.

Her gentle nature could put anyone at ease. Many of those who knew her all said the same thing. She was the most loving, caring and encouraging person they had met.

The most important thing about her is she loved the Lord and looked forward to meeting him. Her name described the beautiful person she truly was inside.

Everyone called her Rose.

Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows lies the seed that with the son's love in the spring becomes the rose

Four Wives

The rich King had 4 wives.

He loved the 4th wife the most and adored her with rich robes and treated her to the finest of delicacies He gave her nothing but the best.He also

loved the 3rd wife very much and was always showing her off to neighboring kingdoms. However, he feared that one day she would leave him for another.

He also loved his 2nd wife. She was his confidant and was always kind, considerate and patient with him. Whenever the King faced a problem, he could confide in her, and she would help him get through the difficult times.

The King's 1st wife was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and kingdom. However, he did not love the first wife. Although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her!

One day, the King fell ill and he knew his time was short. He thought of his luxurious life and wondered, I now have four wives with me, but when I die, I'll be all alone.

"Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I loved you the most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?"

"No way!", replied the 4th wife, and she walked away without another word

.Her answer cut like a sharp knife right into his heart.

The sad King then asked the 3rd wife, "I loved you all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?""No!", replied the 3rd wife. "Life is too good! When you die, I'm going to remarry!"

His heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, "I have always turned to you for help and you've always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?"

"I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!", replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can only walk with you to your grave."

Her answer struck him like a bolt of lightning, and the King was devastated.

Then a voice called out: "I'll go with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go."

The King looked up, and there was his first wife. She was very skinny as she suffered from malnutrition and neglect.

Greatly grieved, the King said, "I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance!"

In truth, we all have the 4 wives in our lives:

Our 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it will leave us when we die.

Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, it will all go to others.

Our 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for us, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

And our 1st wife is our Soul. Often neglected in pursuit of wealth, power and pleasures of the world. However, our Soul is the only thing that will follow us where ever we go.

Cultivate, strengthen and cherish it now, for it is the only part of us that will follow us to the throne of God and continue with us throughout Eternity.

Thought for the day:

Remember, when the world pushes you to your knees, you're in the perfect position to pray.

Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect. It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections

Spiritual Lessons through Shoveling Snow?

We got lots of snow today and I was going to for the first time, try using the snowblower the kids have in the garage. Since they are living between here and Indiana, they are only home every three weeks or so until this house in Belding sells. So it was up to me to clear the driveway and sidewalks.

I could NOT get the blower to start so I shoveled instead, took a good two hours to do the driveway and sidewalks...You would think after doing that I would have a little less appreciation for the snow...But I still love it.

When I began shoveling and looked at how long the driveway seemed, both sides with sidewalks needing to be done and all that snow, it almost seemed overwhelming, but when I began to just focus on one section at a time, it did not seem like such a big task.

It was then I realized the Lord was showing me something really awesome...no matter how big a job (problem) looks if you keep your focus on taking just that one little step at a time (keep your eyes on Jesus), keep shoveling along :-) before you know it that problem does not seem so big any more. Once you realize we can do all things through Christ, and all He expects us to do is to trust Him (keep focused) and nothing is impossible.

Another truth I realized is sometimes the Lord doesn't show us His whole plan or answer all our questions for this simple reason - if we saw the whole picture of what we might be facing or what trial we might have to endure, or how long something may take to happen, we might get discouraged and give up (or fall into some temptation).

So- He will only show us what we need to know to take that one step (of faith) at a time, to keep us focused on today instead of fretting about tomorrow. Which reminds me of how Jesus told us to pray... "Our Father who is in Heaven, Holy is your Name, You kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread..."

Did ya catch that??? Daily bread...not weekly, not monthly not yearly...DAILY.

Take it one day at a time, one step at a time and keep the focus on the Jesus and the task at hand. I love it how only the Lord could take something as menial as shoveling snow and turn it into a spiritual lesson, a blessing and a reason to Thank Him... We just have to be willing to look for those lessons and blessings in every thing our day might bring.

Call me weird, but I am actually thankful to the Lord I couldn't get that stupid blower to start :-)