Just a few more weeks...

Mark & I look forward to moving to the big city of Beijing in a few weeks.  Wow, that sounds close.  Our goal is the end of August.  What used to sound so far away all of a sudden seems so close.
However, we still have several steps before we can apply for visas then get our tickets.  So far we have encountered some dead ends so we persevere.  We know that our father can open the right doors, and we work and wait to see what happens.

We do appreciate the care and interest so many people have shown us.  That is encouraging.  Do continue to remember our needs.

Polishing God's Monuments

As I was looking for books to bring to the beach, I picked up Polishing God’s Monuments – a book I read several years ago. I need the reminder to polish the monuments that God gives us.  I have read the first chapters so far.  The book exhorts us to look back to the past to remember who God has proven Himself to be and what He has done. Isn’t that so much of the theme of the Old Testament?  Raise those ebenezers.  Erect those altars of remembrance. Polish those monuments. Remember God’s faithfulness, His covenant/steadfast love, His mercy.  Look at those times in life when He has answered prayer, maybe not in the way I wanted but in a way better than I wanted.  In a way that most glorifies His name.  What better monuments than to review answered prayers. 

We prayed that God would free both Mimi & Papa from their suffering.  We prayed for Papa sooner because he had suffered so long in body.  We figured that Mimi would live longer.  We had no idea it would be 51 days. In some ways it was so sudden, so quick, so unexpected. 

  

In my darkest hours of faith, when I wanted to give up on trusting and believing in God, I cried out to Him based on His character and His promises. He said He will never leave me nor forsake me.  He said He is with me to the end. He has NEVER failed in keeping his promises. That is a God I can trust. He is God and there is no other.

So many monuments that I can’t recall them all.  But God shows who He is and that He is faithful to His character and His word. He is trustworthy.

Finish Line

Finish Line. Please indulge me a long post as I remember our mother Beatrice Joyce Hatfield. Dr. Kenneth Turner says the key word in understanding the Old Testament as a whole is "remember." For a few minutes I want to remember Mom, her passing, and her life.

 Friday we knew Mom's earthly journey was nearing the end. She was approaching this life's finish line. Yesterday at 3:10 PM she crossed the finish line. Her great, big, beautiful heart beat a final time. Since 7:45 in the morning we had witnessed her rhythmic breaths at almost perfect five second intervals. Kathryn, John, Ellen, and I were there in that quiet moment when Mom breathed almost imperceptibly one final time. We were blessed with the presence of Connie, Maggie Roberts, and Charity from Journey Hospice. The room was wonderfully quiet, as we cut off the oxygen machine just a few moments before her passing. I asked John to pull up Harvest's song "Behold God" which is based on Isaiah 12. And then there were no more intervals, no more breaths, no more labored effort...our mother, the wife of our father - passed into eternity. Heaven's gain is our temporary loss. It was like all of the bright hope and promise of 1 Corinthians 15 funneled down into our experience in a matter of moments.

I will always be glad I shared both our father and our mother's passing with my siblings. If Solomon could conclude "the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth" then I am happy to have shared the day with my fellow womb-sharers! :) One takeaway was how much Kathryn, Ellen, and John loved and honored Mom. They could not conceal their affection. Their tears, plus the tears of Connie and Maggie, will always be precious to me - because real tears of compassion and sorrow convey the very affection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And who loved more than Him?

Mom lived and loved well. She was far from perfect; that was an essential part of her legacy to us. I never felt like I had to earn her love.  She was special and beautiful to us; we were special to her. She still thought of me as “Markie the baby” even into adulthood. I guess some stuff sticks to you in a way you cannot exactly sling off. But I didn’t mind. I think we kids were entirely secure in her love.  In Isaiah 49:15 God uses the undying, loyal love of a mother to express how He cannot possibly forget Israel: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.” Mom could not have forgotten us. My friend Jim Jordan muses that if the Christian life is not centered on love, then what is its center?  Mom’s life was a life of love. She loved the God of her salvation, her husband, her children and grandchildren, her mother and father, her siblings, the church, and her country. The last chapter in the book “Charity and Its Fruits” (on 1 Corinthians 13) by the great theologian Jonathan Edward’s is “Heaven is a World of Love.” Mom helped prepare us for heaven by making our life a world of love.

Mom expressed love in others through interest in their lives, generosity, and lavish hospitality. I don’t think she ever really met a stranger. To this day I am not afraid to talk to anyone, even a perfect stranger. This is due entirely to my mother’s influence and example.

I always thought our mother was striking in her beauty. You noticed her when she walked into a room. The picture below was taken in 1996 when she was around 61 years of age is the lone evidence I offer to support my assertion. She had virtually perfect skin until her final breath. Her hazel green eyes were warm and inviting, her smile equally radiant. Yet I loved her inner beauty, a beauty that remained evident even during these last five years when Alzheimer’s was exacting its inevitable toll. I could enjoy sitting in her presence, holding or rubbing her hand. I would smile or just laugh, tell her how pretty she was and how much I loved her. I felt so at ease, never rushed, just sitting there. By almost any standard we were not accomplishing anything great or significant, but I would not trade anything for the memory of just sitting with Mom. For she was the one who bore us, loved us unfailingly, dried our tears, bandaged our skinned knees, nursed us in sickness, comforted us through the normal trials of school/girlfriends/work, etc. Expanding the list: laundry, vacations, countless chauffer trips, gardens, meals, athletic endeavors, mediated disputes between siblings, church (3x per week), Sunday evening fellowships, the Yacht Club, tennis, thirteen years of visiting her mother in a nursing home, etc, etc, etc. How can I make an exhaustive list? She was there for us – living and modeling life at the same time.

Enough said – I know we are simply grateful for Mom’s life, love, and legacy. I hope I can love as Mom loved. I hope I can live as Mom lived. I have long appreciated how the Apostle Paul begins many of his letters with a word of thanks for his readers. For example, in Phil. 1:3-4 he writes “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy…” Mom, today we remember you with joy, and we thank our God for you! And we trust she is enjoying the indescribable privilege of God’s presence…

A Tribute to My Mother by Mark

What is like a mother's love? Almost indescribable. Today it appeared Mom began the final lap of her earthly sojourn. Several nurses at NHC affirmed that Mom's journey had entered the final leg. My brother asked me if I desired a private moment with our mother. I said I would and drew the door to a close. It has only been 50 days since our father passed away into glory. "God, I need to be honest with you. It has only been seven weeks since Papa went home to be with you. It seems so soon to say good-bye to Mom." I went to Mom's bedside and sat on the edge of her bed. I touched those soft hands and thought of so many pleasant memories. I cried not out of hopeless sadness, but with those rich tears of having had such a loving and supportive mom. She was beautiful, vivacious, funny, hospitable, very friendly, and spiritual. In our family we talked about virtually anything and everything, thanks to her. She taught us how to show interest in others and the fine art of conversation.

Proverbs 31 is, of course, the reading for today if you cycle through reading a chapter a day during each month. It commends the godly woman who through her wise and noble character builds her family and points to a great God who is worth the sacrificial offering of our lives. Mom modeled this chapter by loving Dad through twenty two years of Parkinson's. She met her goal of helping him cope with its difficulties until he crossed the finish line. And she accomplished this with humor and Christ-like dignity.

Tonight, Mom, we rise up and bless you as your children. You have lived and loved well. "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised (Prov. 31:30)."

Far Away Friends

Last week Mark & I attended the ARBCA General Assembly.  It’s the first one we have attended that wasn’t at our church. This GA encouraged me a lot. It seemed to have a healthy, happy spirit of Christ. The singing was robust, the fellowship sweet.  In addition to pastors, many wives came, as demonstrated by about 50 at the ladies’ tea.

After the GA, we headed toward my hometown of Stevensville, MI to visit with a high school friend and her family, the Schlutts, and long-time family friends, the Ernsts. On the way in, we drove down John Beers Rd to drive by the old Jr. High school which is now a middle school and the high school and took a few pictures. We drove around North & South Riviera and took a few pictures of the old house.  

We delighted in the visit with the Schlutts. Julie is one of those friends who calls me every few years and we talk but we hadn’t seen each other for 18 years. We had a terrific time talking together. They seem to be doing well, loving being parents to 2 beautiful Chinese daughters.  Steve & Mark hit it off well, both great conversationalists.  They are excited about our plans to go to China in the fall.  Julie said she just knew that is right for us and had a peace about the Lord’s leading in it.  

Then we spent the night with Mary & Allyn Ernst.  We were SO encouraged by their walk with the Lord. Of course, they told stories on me and my family – some that I had never heard before.  It really was neat to see how God has grown them over the years.  God has preserved them and they have persevered.  Their life reminds me to finish in the faith well.

Friday we drove over to Columbus, OH to visit with Keith, Angela, & Chi Webb. We had a blessed time renewing our friendship.  On the way over, Mark gave Max Callahan a call to see if we could also see him.  Well, about 8pm as we were finishing dinner, Mark shared with Keith about this college student we wanted to see. So Keith says, Wait a minute and recounts a time that he had lunch with an OSU college student one Sunday when Angela was out of town.  It was Max. So Keith called Max to tell him that we were there eating dinner.  In typical Callahan fashion, he said "No way!" That was a fun connection. So Max came over for breakfast before he went to work the next morning.  We had a nice though short time of catching up.

I have enjoyed this week of Christian fellowship, catching up with longtime friends, seeing how they are walking with the Lord.  It encourages my heart and faith. I feel refreshed knowing that people we love around the country persevere. It helps me persevere. I can see how Paul wanted to go back to churches where he had been to see how they were doing, to encourage them, and to refresh his own soul.  Nothing like the Family of God.

Along the way, we have shared about the doors God has opened for us to Beijing. In order to go by the end of August, we must hit the ground running. Several people have asked if we are excited, scared, what.  Maybe a little of both. Yet I know God will provide all our needs, even our spiritual and emotional needs.

Lee P. Hatfield Jr - written Friday, April 12, 2013

Today is a happy-sad day for all of us who knew and loved our Dad. As I write this I marvel at how beautiful it is outside, as though God redeemed the storm-filled day Cheryl and I experienced yesterday driving east from Clarksville, TN back to Greenville. We pulled in to my parent's home at 9:45 PM; Dad passed into heaven at 11:05 PM, the "mortal putting on immortality." The moments with my siblings - Kathryn, Ellen, and John were priceless. We knew the treasure of a father's love and it prepared us as children to understand the love of our Heavenly Father. I thought as we drove from Clarksville - "A father cannot make a child a Christian, but a father can be an obstacle for a child to embrace Christ by faith." Our father loved us generously and faithfully in a way that tilled the soil of our hearts to receive the seed of the Gospel. What greater gift can a father provide his children?

Dad was faithful, steady, competent, intelligent, practical, forward-thinking, funny (very), family-oriented, generous, wise, economical with words, and clearly spiritual. He loved God, Mom, his children, his siblings, and the church. His spirituality exceeded his need to wax eloquent about spiritual things. His life was one long sermon. He often left me wanting more expressions from him, but I know we all treasure our exchanges with him.

I know I have not posted pictures of our Dad today. Others are far more capable of that than me. But hear a word to all of you who have known, loved, and/or cared for our parents - "Thank you!" In loving Dad, you have loved us as generously as our father...

- Mark

Dad on his 82nd birthday Aug 16, 2012 

Back in Clarksville

Mark and I are back in Clarksville now.  After we came home from Beijing, I washed clothes and we packed up to come home to Greenville to see his dad.  We heard that the few days prior to our arrival from Beijing, his dad had really not been doing well.  So Mark decided to come home to Greenville to say what might be a last good bye.  Currently his dad receives morphine every 12 hours for his constant pain so the last two times we saw him, he was very sleepy and not coherent.

We stayed three nights at home. We visited with his parents each day and even saw all of our kids and my parents during the time home.  It was so good to have time with each of the kids and have directed conversations with them.  I feel like we connected well with each of them.

Some thoughts about all our back and forth traveling.  I feel like we have had a mini-dose of cross-cultural training this month.  A few weeks in Clarksville in a different environment than normal. Different church culture, smaller living quarters, fewer things.  Then to Beijing. Different language all around us. Walking everywhere. Riding the subway. Staying with two different families. Then back to Greenville.  Feeling like a visitor in our own home. Meeting people for meals. Packing and repacking. Living out of a suitcase.  Is this what missionaries feel like? Often on the go but never staying anywhere? In familiar surroundings with friends but not feeling a part of it? 

In the midst of our back and forth traveling, I realized I forgot to post some cool pictures of our time in Beijing. While Mark K & Mark visited with some friends Saturday night, Diane & I walked to a mall area that contains the largest digital movie screen in the world.  Beijing impressed us in many ways, one of which is the complete safety we felt at all times.  Beijing has almost no crime so       

we enjoyed taking a walk to see the night life.

"The Place"

Street side of largest digital screen in the world