Liz Murphy-Heinitz- Remembering William

I was blessed to catch up

 with a wonderful friend

 at the kitchen table this week.

In the passing of all of our life ways-

I had missed the news about the death of her father.

I have listened to the story

 of caring for her father- 

William or Bill, for many years.

She shared with me the story 

of the challenging end of life days-

when it became even harder to care for a father-

who was frustrated with all of the

 ups and downs of health,

 moving, 

situations out of his control, 

and just plain old hard days.

Liz knew she had to DO SOMETHING 

to help her attitude

 in the middle of all the mess.

So she began an acrostic list 

in a journal of all the attributes and gifts

 that were her FATHER.

Underneath all the words and attitude

 they were experiencing together right now- 

there was still her loving dad.

In a last move her father 

didn't want anything brought 

into the room of his "old life" as he knew it.

SO she printed up the words

 on the computer and her daughter, Natalie,

 did the lovely script lettering.

  They framed the tribute to William 

and gave it to him.

She told the story of one day 

on a visit she found her dad sitting 

and holding the frame - up real close-

to read the words that described him.

Don't we all need others to remind us

 about gifts given to us

 by a Heavenly Father in hard days?

Her father died just a few days

 after his birthday this year

 and they added these notes 

to the back of the frame 

and displayed it at the funeral.

In an Open Studio gathering,

 Liz brought color copies of images

 she wanted to put together 

in a small booklet called a "Faithable".

 She had pulled it out of the box

 of unfinished projects.

We all have THOSE boxes right?

 Yes, remember.

Remember the dash of our lives.

What small things we lift up

 to be completed by God's Faithfulness to us.

Some things we will see finished in our lives-

and many we will not.

We will always do things "partly"-

unless we do this ONE THING WHOLLY-

LOVE the Lord your God 

with all your soul 

and with all your strength.

And so we REMEMBER-

as we are the "sandwich generation"

 that will take care of our children 

as we care for our parents. 

 And our children 

will be have this same lot in life.

So-- this is an example 

of when you take a KAIROS moment,

(when GOD breaks into your world), 

and take the time to observe,

  reflect and discuss just what happened. 

Then Liz made a plan,

made an accountable decision,

(to come to the Open Studio)

and acted.

As a BUSY WORLD LIFE schedule 

dismembers us,

a quiet afternoon can allow us to

be "put back together"-

remember.

We are reminded of the love 

of a heavenly Father, who 

ALWAYS REMEMBERS us-

 day in and day out -

in the dash of our short lives.

May we bring Him Glory-

as William did-

with God planted firmly in the center.

And may we make choices TODAY- 

of the legacy we leave

 for the next generation in 

Telling the Story-

 of HIS FAITHFULNESS.

Liz Murphy-Heinitz is a member of 

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 

in Springfield, VA.