Getting Ready to Leave

Or dying.
One of the saints of the church is dying and I have just come back from visiting her.
This weekend it became clear that everything is shutting down.
She wasn't quite ready - in fact last weekend when I stopped by her home on Saturday night she told me that she was "still kicking."
But this weekend it is clear that she is going to be leaving soon.
Friday she told her daughter - "I want a party." I let people in church know that and all day people came by to visit with her. She had balloons and flower in her hospital room. It was all good.

Now she is at home in a hospital bed. Her daughter is taking care of her. She is leaving just the way I would like to when it is my time.
The balloons and flowers are in her room and there are people coming and going and just sitting with her. I sat with her for about a half hour. I said the 23rd Psalm and prayed with her. And just sat in silence. There is music playing softly in the background.
At one point I said, "What are you thinking." and she said "You're the greatest."
Whether she knew who I was or not is not important. That is definitely who she is.

At some point she was talking to someone who was not there about leaving things in the past. And she did say "Mama." She is getting ready to leave. She is partly here and partly where she is going.

Her daughter was going to go back to work tomorrow and realized yesterday that she just couldn't. And then someone sent a check in the mail and her mom's social security money came into the account and she realized that God had provided the means for her to stay home from work this week.

and so, a holy time as she is preparing to leave.