somebody's always watching you. and the thing about death is it makes you think about everything the person did in their life, the bad, the good and the in between. but i urge you to only focus on the good, on the beautiful. it's easy to think about the bad because you can't hug them or see their smile but forget the bad. why? because God does. Noah, Abraham, Rahab, they were liars, prostitutes and murderers, but God forgot that. He remembered their faith, that they were looking for salvation. He forgets the mistakes, he only remembers that you tried. God forgets the mistakes, He only remembers faith. He remembers faith.
ever since 9/11, they've put cameras everywhere. bridges, street corners, train stations, someone, somewhere is watching your every move. they have satellites in the sky that can see your house so clear, they can see you walk out of it. even when you think no one sees you, someone, somewhere sees you. let me tell you a story. i had to be in baltimore preaching and that same night my daughter stephanie had a recital. i got off that pulpit and started speeding home on 95 north. i rushed to the recital and burst through the doors to find out that i made it. i was just so happy to be there. i made it. i shocked myself. a few weeks later i get something in the mail. it was a very heavy ticket for speeding. and they had a picture of someone that could have been me driving my car and as if to add insult to my injury, they had an inset zooming in on my license plate. someone was watching me.
i'll tell you another story. my daughter had a track meet that she was so worried about. she kept saying, 'mom, i don't think i can win, that girl is fast.' well i ran track in high school so i trained with her. for three weeks, i got up at 5:30am and we trained. finally the day of the track meet came. i was coming from preaching somewhere else and i had to rush home because apparently the dog had to be there too. i ran home, grabbed the dog and headed to the track. i had no idea what to expect, this was her first time running in a new school so i had no idea what i was walking into. when i got there, the bleachers were packed! they had vendors, there were so many families and different stands. they had games and food. i was like, 'oh this is nice but how is stephanie going to see me.' i rushed up to the front with the dog of course and i saw her standing on the block. let her tell it, she only saw the dog, not her mother holding the dog but who knows. i watched her start the race. as she was running, i started moving toward the finish line. i wanted to wait for her at the finish line. sometimes you need to move to get a better view. sometimes you need to reposition yourself to a place where you can be of more help. sometimes you need to see things clearer so you have to move from where you were to where you are. i stood at the finish line and i saw her clearly barreling toward me. i stood there knowing i would get a great picture from where i was. i started screaming, 'run stephanie run!' when she tells the story, she says she never saw me till she crossed that line but she heard me screaming and from somewhere she got a burst of energy. stephanie wears that first place trophy to bed every night.
alicia (the young girl grieving) your mother didn't leave you. she's just in a new position. she's in a better place to help you, to guide you. i don't have the luxury of being everywhere my daughter is as a working mother, but your mother can be with you ANYWHERE. you can't see her alicia but she's there. she can see you and she's saying 'run alicia run.' your mother is waiting for you at the finish line.
i cried and i kept crying. i cried as a mother. as a daughter. and as a friend.
i just cried but i remembered faith because God does.
it must be a surreal feeling to know that your mother did such a beautiful job raising you that she could leave you in this world and you'll be ok.
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