She Was A Gift

She was a gift.

Her name was Gerry

but I called her by her nickname, Bip.

I met Bip not long after I met

and started working with her daughter, Cindy.

It was 1987.

That’s also when I met the rest of Cindy’s family

- Cindy’s husband, her father, her sister, Cheryl,

and her brother, Danny.

Bip was Danny’s mother,

the one I asked you to pray for in my last post.

She passed away on Monday, April 30, 2018,

4 days after her son passed away.

Just as I said about her Danny in my last post,

Bip is now experiencing her faith having become sight.

Her race is finished.

She is getting to see her parents, her husband, her son, her grandson,

and many other family members.

She is completely healed and free from all earthly issues.

Her heart is with her Jesus.

And for that, I rejoice!

But I miss knowing she’s here on this earth.

(photo from June 1988)

Bip lived a couple of hours away from the county

where Cindy and I lived and worked in 1987.

At that time, Cindy and her husband still “went home” for the weekends.

I would often go with them.

I have always been a night owl and Bip was always up working.

I have so many sweet memories of sitting with her, after most everyone else had gone to bed, at her kitchen table late into the evening as she made the next day’s dessert.

It made for many late night conversations

that I will always value.

I don’t know if I ever told her children or if she told them

but there were occasions when I would call Bip to get her opinion on things.

Those phone conversations were as valued as the kitchen table ones.

I didn’t get to see Bip a whole lot over the life

of Rob’s and my ministry years as we moved to different places across the state

but every time I did, it was as if no time at all had passed.

She was special like that.

A few years ago, Bip and her husband, had to downsize

and move into an assisted living facility.

And when she did, I ended up with a gift from her.

The very first time I ever walked into her living room back in 1987,

I couldn’t help but notice a picture hanging on the wall that, although not identical,

was so similar to one hanging in my very own house.

I, then and there, said to Bip,

“If you ever decide to get rid of that picture,

I’ll take it off your hands.

I would love to have a matching set.”

So, over 25 years later, as they were downsizing,

I got a phone call offering me the picture.

Both pictures are special to me.

They both remind me of strong women who made an impact on my life.

The one on the left is a reminder of my Grandma Beck (who bought it)
and my Great-Grandma Hussey (the picture hung in her house was when I was growing up).

The one on the right is a reminder of Bip, who, although not biologically my family,

sure felt like it.

Both pictures make me smile.

Just as Bip always did.

~~~

Please pray for Cindy and Cheryl.

They lost their brother and their mother within 4 days of each other.

Please pray for Bip’s sons-in-law, daughter-in-law, and her precious grandchildren, two of whom, as I told you in my last post, just also lost their daddy.

God heals the broken hearted.

My children and I are proof of that.

But it’s not easy.