In The Garden

 I come to...

 The garden...

Alone...

While the dew...

Is still on the roses.

  

And the voice I hear...

Falling on my ear...

The Son of God...

Discloses.

And He walks with me...

And He talks with me...

And He tells me...

I am His own.

And the joy...

We share...

As we tarry...

There...

None other...

Has ever..

Known.

He speaks...

And the sound...

Of His voice...

 

Is so sweet...

The birds hush...

Their singing.

And the melody...

That He gave to me...

Within my heart...

Is ringing.

And He walks with me...

And He talks with me...

And He tells me...

I am His own.

And the joy...

We share...

 As we tarry...

There...

None other...

 Has ever known.

And the joy...

We share...

.

As we tarry there...

None other...

Has ever known.

When last we spoke, my mother in law (Mom) had just entered Hospice...

And she had requested that we celebrate the engagement of her grandson and the introduction of his bride-to-be with a circle of family at a party in Mom's home...

I also shared the fact that Mom had  gone to bed thinking about a time when she and I sat with my grandmother on a  garden bench, and Granny, who couldn't remember what someone had asked her five minutes earlier due to a stroke that impaired her short term memory, sang hymn after hymn, including "In The Garden" as requested by Mom. After thinking about Granny singing, Mom fell asleep and had a dream in which she herself was sitting on a garden bench...

When suddenly she looked up, and coming down the garden path toward her was The Lord...

He was walking toward a garden gate, and as He opened it, she knew she would be the next one through the gate...

But someone woke her up instead.


That same day, her pulse crashed three times, once upon awakening, but all three times she revived.


Over the course of weeks, Mom remained patiently seated on the garden bench...

Day after day, she awaited her turn,..

Always assured that The Lord would come for her...

Until, at last, He finally did,...

He opened the gate, took her by the hand, and together they went home to stroll in His beautiful garden above...

Mom never doubted His love for her.  Like the lighthouse across the harbor from us, His light shown through the night [click on the pictures to see the light in the photos below]..

And into the glorious new morning, leading her safely to shore...

Into a glorious new day!

And now to Mom:

While we will miss your sweet, sparkly spirit...

And while your place at the family table...

Or any table for that matter, could never be filled by anyone else...

We celebrate with you...

Your sweet reunion with Dad...

 And your meeting, face to face, with the Savior! What joy!

And oh, how I would love to see your reaction to the banquet feast above. Something tells me you're on the arrangements committee with all of those shiny objects with which to play!

No one loved a party as much as you, and how can any of us ever begin to thank you for flying on the spur of the moment to come celebrate with us over the years???

Birthdays...

Holidays...

Anydays and Everydays...

From your love of summer...

To your lifelong devotion to sunbathing and the beach...

To the fact that no one could ever come close to being the prolific letter writer you were or could be more polite than you in crafting the perfect thank-you note including your propensity for writing thank-you notes for thank-you notes!

And Mom, no one could ever, EVER dye more wonderful Easter eggs than you. I still cannot believe that you made them for us EVERY SINGLE YEAR though your chicks all qualify for AARP and beyond! ;-)

Yep, you outdid the Easter Bunny himself!

And part of the joy of any Easter is knowing that you and Dad will be celebrating with each other and so many other loved ones in Heaven...

 If they have a tap dance contest, my money is on you! Move over, Ann Miller!!!

And Mom, please remember...

To hug Mama for me...

When the two of you have tea, as I know you will!

I just pray I can follow your lead when my time comes and wait as patiently and even more important  -- as graciously -- as you did.  Only, I think I will choose a bench in an indoor, air conditioned "garden", complete with tons of gardening books. Pretty nice waiting room, no?  Something tells me, you would approve! ;-)



In loving memory of Mom, the best Mother in Law ever!  Pansies are for remembrance, and I will always remember and be grateful for YOU! xoxoxo

"...For whither thou goest, I will go; and whither thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God..."  --  Ruth to Naomi, her mother in law.  The Book of Ruth 1:16

Loving you...


Sheila (Mrs. Magpie)

"In The Garden" was written by C. Austin Miles, and "Cyber-Hymnal" has this to say about the author and the hymn's creation:

I read...the story of the greatest morn in history:  "The first day of the week cometh Mary Magadelene early, while it was yet very dark, unto the sepulcher." Instantly, completely, there unfolded in my mind the scenes of the garden of Joseph... Out of the mists of the garden comes a form, halting, hesitating, tearful, seeking, turning from side to side in bewildering amazement. Falteringly, bearing grief in every accent, with tear-dimmed eyes, she whispers, "If thou hast borne him hence"... "He speaks, and the sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing."  Jesus said to her, "Mary!" Just one word from His lips, and forgotten the heartaches, the long dreary hours... all the past blotted out in the presence of the Living Present and the Eternal Future.

"In The Garden" was part of the music used in the Academy Award-winning movie, "Places in The Heart". As in the funeral scenes in the movie, the hymn is often performed at funerals throughout the South, many times as a solo. By request, I sang this for Mom at home.