Mim Mim and The Banana

I was able to spend the day with my sister the other day. We hadn't seen each other for over two years, when our family took a trip west to celebrate my son's college graduation. He still doesn't have his diploma. Long story. Anyway, we had flown into Las Vegas from the east coast because the flights were so much cheaper into there. None of us had ever been to Vegas, and I'd heard about those amazing and inexpensive seafood buffets. And it gave us a chance to visit with my sister and her family.

She and my brother-in-law pastor a church out there, and it was wonderful to be able to visit their home and church. Yes, I know that he is the actual pastor, but I have been a ministry wife since I was eighteen and it is definitely a twofer deal. And I wouldn't have had it any other way. From Vegas we rented an SUV and drove to Southern California. We had an awesome time. It was the best family vacation we had ever had for several reasons, not the least of which was the time I got to spend with my sister. So, fast forward to the past week. My sister, Laura, came from Vegas to visit her daughter and her family. Sarah was visiting me from California. The Lord is sweet to me like that. So, Sarah and I went to spend the day with Laura and Becca and her small boys. There is a photo on my facebook page, in case you are visual like me. Becca served a wonderful lunch and we got to know her sweet babies. Laura and I had lots to catch up on. Plenty of laughter and tears. We reminisced. We have two more sisters who are much younger than me. I have fourteen years on the youngest. We really had very different childhoods. But Laura is only three years younger, and we share a lot. So it was good. We remembered and laughed about a memory with Mim Mim. You met her yesterday, and I guess this is why she has been on my mind. Remember, Laura was especially close to her. Mim Mim moved nearby my mother when she was in her eighties and the property on which she and my grandmother lived was sold. My grandma had moved in with my mother. Mim Mim moved into a nice assisted living apartment, and then for a couple of years into a nursing home when she was in her nineties. She had no children of her own, but she had raised my mother. My sister, Laura, and her family lived in Indiana, where they pastored a church. Mim Mim loved it when Laura would come to visit. They were close, still. Laura was just starting to have babies and would bring one or two in tow when she visited. On this particular day, Laura was about to fly home, and she and I had gone to see Mim Mim one more time before she left. You know that those kind of visits are hard, because you wonder if it will be the last time you'll see them alive here on earth. It came time for the visit to end. It was very emotional. I'm crying, the baby's crying, and Laura's crying. But Mim Mim is close to hysterical. It was bad. I was afraid we would kill her with this horrible parting! I finally dragged Laura out into the hall. She's still sobbing. Not a minute went by when she remembered that in all of our distress she had left the diaper bag in Mim Mim's room. I volunteered to go back for it, but she wouldn't hear of it. It gave her a chance to see Mim Mim for a moment or two more. I took the baby, and she went in. Two minutes later she came back out with the diaper bag, her eyes still filled with tears, but with a smile on her face. What in the world?!? Apparently as soon as we were out of sight, Mim Mim forgot all about our traumatic parting, and was sitting on the side of the bed calmly eating a banana! She got over us quick. Old people are funny! And then she and I talked about how it's that way with life. You go through seasons and trials where you are not even sure you are going to survive. But the Lord gets you through. It was just a season, after all. Keep your eyes on the Lord and don't lose hope, because this too shall pass. Actually, those words do not come from the Bible, but the thought comes from this verse: 2 Corinthians 4: 17~ “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Don't despair. Run to God and let Him hide you under His wings. Trust Him. This too shall pass.