Precious Moments: the Morning my Mom saw the Face of Jesus:)

Psalm 116:15says, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants."

The morning that the Lord took my mom home to be with him was truly an amazing, beautiful, and peaceful experience!

I woke up to my alarm going off at 4:25am, the reminder that it was time to give mom her meds. My sister Joy was already sitting by mom's side. She told me that mom was having very unusual breathing and her touch was beginning to be cold: we knew things were getting close. After waking up Dad and calling hospice, we were told that mom had 3 minutes to 3 hours left. All of the family gathered around mom, and Geni Shields came over. Dan recieved my text message (that was a miracle in itself: he was staying at a house with no cell/internet connection, but had been able to get a small signal). John and Kenize were not there yet.

It was not the scary, sad experience that I/we had thought it would be; rather, a uniquely peaceful experience. Dad began to read some Bible verses and prayed with mom one last time. He told her how much he loved her and how she would be immensely missed! Josh was serenading mom on the piano; she always loved Josh's music, and it calmed and quieted her heart many a time.

Dad was reading the 23rd Psalm to the family, Joy and Dan were keeping track of her breathing and pulse. Just as Dad got to the end of the Psalm, "...And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever," mom took her last breath. In that same moment, John and Kenzie came through the living room door and walked in to hear Dan say, "That was it! She's gone."

What followed was moments of peace and awe, mixed with tears. The most amazing thing of all was mom's face a few minutes later. She was smiling! Just a few minutes earlier, she had no smile on her face, but in that moment, she had the smile of a child who was seeing Daddy after a long time. That smile has given me an extra measure of faith that mom saw Jesus right then and there as her soul left earth and entered the glorious presence of Jesus!