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Lenten Devotions

Day 14: Written by Gary Lewis

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"Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their life." Proverbs 22:6

The Lord has blessed me with many gifts…my wife, my children and my entire family. I cannot say enough about my family and how blessed I am to have them. Every day I am thankful for how lucky I am.  However, this devotion is dedicated to two very important people in my life who are no longer with us. My mother and father. My brother said it best, as he was giving my mother’s eulogy: “We grew up in a Leave it to Beaver Family.” My dad was the breadwinner, my mom took care of the house and made sure we had food on the table. It was the traditional family structure growing up in the 60 and 70’s. My parents lived by certain values and passed these values onto my brother and I.  You work hard, be strong Christians, you’re accountable for your actions, follow the rules. When things were tough and life was throwing curve balls at you, my mom’s response was always. “Prayers help…things work out the way they are supposed to.”

As we grew up and moved on, my parents didn’t get to see us as often as we all wished.  Every phone call back to mom and dad started with: “How’s the family and how are the pets?” I remember when my dad was in the last few days of his life and he was not able to articulate his thoughts into words like he once did, our conversations were all focused on how my family was doing...not on any of his health issues. He would always ask: How was Mackenzie’s dance show?  How did the boys do in their ball games...any highlights from the game? My mom and dad were always more concerned about their family and everyone else rather than for their own well-being.

After my dad passed, we moved my mother to Hudson so we could provide care for her and see her more often.  As her health started to fail, her value on the family only strengthened. When we had an issue or a life challenge thrown at our family, mom would always respond…“Everything works out the way it is supposed to...Prayers Help.”  Never would she focus our conversations on her own health issues but only on how our family was doing.  When my mom was in the hospital only days before she passed, her nurse shared with us that when she was outside of her room charting one evening, she could hear my mom saying her prayers out loud in her room.  Her prayers were focused on how she wanted to be with my dad, she mentioned every one of her grandkids names and prayed for each individually.  She prayed for her two sons and their wives. My mother was in hospice a total of 24 hours before she passed.  In her last hours, she was in and out of consciousness.  I will never forget, when she woke up one moment and said to Paige and I: ”I have strawberry ice cream in the freezer. Make sure Miles gets that because he loves ice cream.”  This statement was probably some of the last words my mother said before she passed.  It is quite fitting that my mom’s last words reflected not on her, but on the people that meant the most to her...her children and grandchildren.

My mom and dad put family first. They taught us many life lessons. They taught us that things work out the way they are supposed to and to use your strong faith and the power of prayer to guide your daily living. They taught us values and beliefs that we want to pass onto our children and grandchildren.

Prayer:  Dear Lord, thank You for my wonderful parents and the love and support that they have given me and my family throughout my life.  Please give me the strength and power to be the same positive influence to my children and grandchildren. Amen. 

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