In memory of our dear sweet Mom Foust

Jan 28, 2010

My name is Jim, but my mom always called me James, the name she gave me.
I know we're all grieving over my mother. I am shaking with grief, but it's not an empty grief, because I can remember the words that my mom spoke to me after my dad passed away: James, that's not your father, he's not there. We know were he is... And I can clearly hear my mothers voice now in my head, telling me: James, that's not me, I'm not there. You know were I am...

I wrote a few things that I'll try to get through without falling apart. You see my mom was my best friend growing up. We moved often enough that I went to four different junior high, and high schools. My brother & sister had already moved away at that time. And we never really stayed in one place long enough to really make friends, or plant any roots. My own confusion added to the difficulty..

Knowing this, my mother stepped in, and really did become the friend that I needed. And most of all she helped me to learn the discernment I needed to deal with my own confusions. In doing this I can say that my mom saved my life, and really was my best friend growing up... That is just the way my mother was in this life. Not just with me.

Some of the most joyful times I remember of my mother Amy, was at christmas time. I remember the wonder of Christmas as a child, watching and helping my mother & the family decorate the Christmas tree. And I remember wondering even asking Are all the trees in heaven evergreen?. I knew that word evergreen because that's what a Christmas tree is; You know, a tree that stays green forever planted growing in the ground. And I wondered, Does God keep his own Christmas tree? Who knows. But if he does, what would it be like? Does he keep ornaments on his Christmas tree?

Now as an adult I enjoy watching and helping my precious wife Renee at Christmas time, going through the ornaments that have been passed down from grandmother to mother, and from mother to daughter. Hand made ornaments given as gifts from friends and family. Renee carefully packs & unpacks these decorations every year. You see those ornaments are precious, and they hold & represent these precious relationships and memories.

Now this is the same way our mother was with people. If I had only one way to describe our mother and what she was like. It would be this, that my mom was a life saver. She collected people like the precious ornaments in her life. She was just naturally a friend to the friendless. From the daughter of the town prostitute, a frightened pregnant teen down the street, or a surprised prison pen pal; She valued all of them just as much as any of her friends.

Our Christmas ornaments may fall from the tree and break, and that's the way it is with us in our lives. In our ever changing lives, we all eventually break and physically die. But each of our lives here, from before birth, all the way through to death, all of it, are held totally and entirely by eternity, completely and utterly unchanging.

But my mother was aware of something that many of us are also aware of; That carried together in the living work of Jesus, we all will be brought together to live in eternity. And we will see the entirety of our earthly lives with perfect clarity. We will have a clear and unfaltering memory that we will all cherish and share for eternity as we build a continuum of new memories with our Lord and Savior Jesus. What an awesome journey!

Yes, we grow old and we break. It's true. I can say the most terrible beauty I have ever heard in my life, was the sound of my mother weeping so heavily and deeply in my arms over the passing of my father. What an awesome terrible beauty. She loved him so so much! But this was her prayer, that she would not die first. That she would not leave him to be lost in his Alzheimer's disease without her.. We spent most of that night sharing our understanding, and what we knew. And we spent that time sharing our faith with each other. It was not an empty hopeless weeping. It was and is a grief with meaning. With meaning beyond the grave. We knew, and I know were we are going.

Last week, our sweet precious mother passed away, her heart stopping, and her body coming to the floor in the hallway of her home in Toms River... I don't believe I have ever wept so hard or so deeply in all my life. But my memory of this brief and profound time with my mother in her grief over dad's death. A time which moved so quickly along with assurance and joy brings me a clear assurance that we will see each other again.

You see we have something in our hearts that can never be taken away and that will never die... It is the memory of our mother, and the timeless beauty of her life, made clean by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. A pure and bright shining ornament on the tree of God's eternity.

May we all follow her & be carried on the same path, and meet each other there.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Mom
• Foust
• Memorial

[sparkyhoosier]

James, you have made a very beautiful tribute to your mother. I applaude you for opening your heart and allowing others to know how you have been touched by this loss.

My heart goes out to you and your family. It's not easy to let go of our loved ones. I know...

L. Eugene Sparks

[FireMouseHQ]

@sparkyhoosier Thank you Sparky for your kind words. It's been a while since I checked these comments. They are very much appreciated. You can read the eulogy in the description text.

Blessings!

[TheAdultChild101]

I just lost my father two weeks ago. Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[FireMouseHQ]

@TheAdultChild101 Sorry for taking so long. Thank you for the complement. I am sorry for your loss, and I pray for you now for all of God's reign, comfort and most abundant Blessings over you and in your life from now to eternity. May you find comfort and strength in His Hands.

[Videogamefanatic100]

RIP

[FireMouseHQ]

Thank you Tristan,  Her life was, and is a blessing. It is difficult for us here, for the moment in this place. But the genuine thoughts and prayers from people like you are a comfort.

Blessings!