By Kay Dills
Philippians 4: 6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus
In 2013 my sister was out shopping when she realized she did not know how to get home. This was the first of many times she would not remember. She was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. For seven years I could see a decline in her mental and physical condition. With each of my trips to Black Mountain there would be a significant change. I prayed that God would watch over her and her husband Robert as the disease progressed.
In August 2019 I met my daughter and all of my grandchildren at my sister’s house. The Lord gave me what would become one of the most memorable days of my life. She did not know what she had for lunch that day or even whether she had eaten but she did know every song and every story she had told me as a child. That day she shared those memories with my grandchildren. In December 2019 my brother and I made our final visit to her house. She had forgotten so many things but she had not forgotten Jesus. She could sing every verse of every hymn ever written. Phil Cross says it best in his song She Still Remembers Jesus:
“But she still remembers Jesus and his amazing grace.
He left a mark upon her heart that time cannot erase.
She can tell you who he was and what he did and why he came.
Yes, she still remembers Jesus’ name.”
In July of 2020 I made my finial visit to Black Mountain. The sixth month’s prior had taken its toll on my sister’s life. When I entered her hospital room she was unconscious. There were no tubes or IV’s, just my sister sleeping peacefully. As I took her hand, I was filled with a sense of peace that I had never experienced before. It was the peace that surpasses all understanding. God had given us a wonderful life together and now it was time for her to go home.
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
A few days later my sister left this world. I knew exactly where she was. She was with our heavenly Father and our earthly father who had taught us about Jesus. Thank you Daddy for giving us a Christian upbringing. Thank You Jesus for the peace you have given me and for the assurance that someday I will see your face. What a Day that will be!