She’s Right There

She was in her 90s.

She was just out the hospital and into a new nursing home.

She’d been summarizing what her medical team had told her over the past couple of days about her condition and her prognosis.

The more she shared, the quieter her voice grew and the longer the pauses between sentences, until we were sitting in silence as she looked out the window at falling leaves.

Suddenly she sat up a little straighter,turned to face me, shook her index finger at me and in a louder, firmer voice announced, “But I’m sure not about to sit around and feel sorry for myself!”

And then she laughed, and said, “You better never play poker, Joe. I wish you could see your face!”

I laughed and agreed with her, and then we talked about her forward-looking attitude and what seemed to be her indomitable spirit.

She reminded me of what’s in our Scriptures —

Summing it all up, friends,

I’d say you’ll do best

by filling your minds and meditating

on things true, noble, reputable,

authentic, compelling, gracious

—the best, not the worst;

the beautiful, not the ugly;

things to praise, not things to curse.

Put into practice what you learned from me,

what you heard and saw and realized.

Do that, and God,

who makes everything work together,

will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

(Philippians 4:8,9 in The Message version)

She’s living right there.