“On what would have been Mom’s 97th Birthday”
November 20, 2023
Today would have been my Mom’s 97th birthday, but she missed it by two months. If she were still with us, we would have celebrated Mom with cards, flowers, gifts, and of course cake! However, since she is with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we have found a unique way to celebrate Mom today. Some of us have donned big hoop earrings because Mom, also known as GG, liked hoop earrings that were on the larger side. Some have gone to visit her graveside at the Washington Crossing National Cemetery where both my parents are buried.
Of course, when I think of cemeteries, I think of tombstones, and they in turn, make me think of engravings. The purpose of engraving rings, boxes, and tombstones varies depending on the context and object or person involved. Personalizing an item by engraving initials or names makes that item unique to the owner. Sometimes engravings can serve as a form of identification. However, engraving is commonly used for commemorative purposes, such as tombstone inscriptions. The words etched in stone serve to honor and remember the deceased.
Washington Crossing National Cemetery, where my parents are buried, is a beautiful, well-manicured, and serene place. Each time I visit my parents’ graveside, I enjoy reading the inscriptions on the tombstones leading up to my parents’ stone. Some indicate that the deceased person was a faithful, devoted, and loving person. While those descriptions would certainly be true of my Mom and Dad, my brothers and I chose to write an engraving that would capture my parents’ eternal place of rest and that would tell others that they are with Jesus forever. Mom’s engraving, along with her name, birth and death dates, reads, “Cherishing the Old Rugged Cross,” which memorializes her love for the hymn, “The Old Rugged Cross,” and her trust in the shed blood of Christ on the cross.
However, thinking about tombstone inscriptions, reminds me of a far superior engraving and a far superior message. It is the engraving nestled in chapter 49 of the book of Isaiah –
“16Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
The verse, in context, was given to the Israelites to reassure them of God’s faithfulness despite their exile and despair at the time. It speaks directly to their profound feelings of abandonment and promises them God’s ultimate restoration and blessings.
However, for you and me, the love portrayed in Isaiah 49:16 is the ultimate expression of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, the old rugged cross, where God’s love for humanity was eternally sealed. What a reminder of the depth of God’s love and redemption, which knows no bounds! What a reminder that we are never forgotten or abandoned! In moments of doubt or despair, this verse urges us to look to the palms of God, where names are eternally engraved, and find solace in His everlasting presence.
Mom, on what would have been your 97th birthday, while you are not engraved on the palms of our hands, you are forever etched on the walls of our hearts, and we will always remember you. And we find great solace in knowing that you cherished the old rugged cross and because you did, you are in the everlasting presence of God, cherished and eternally remembered by the Creator of the Universe.