A Royal Love Affair

By Heidi McLaughlin –

I heard strange muffled sounds coming from behind my parent’s bedroom room door. What was going on in there? As I put my ear closer to the door I realized it was the sound of my mother praying. During my rebellious teenage years, as I snuck into our house, I frequently heard the rhythmic, serene voice of my mother talking to her Heavenly Father.

My mother had a love affair with Jesus and she spoke to Him about everything.  Over the years I often heard my name mentioned during her prayer times.  I knew she prayed for me as I struggled through my low self esteem, when I went through difficult times in my marriage, and after the death of my first husband.

As my mother grew older and then learned how to live as a widow I would often stay with her and sleep on the living room couch. Late at night as I would be getting ready for bed, I could hear her voice on the other side of the bedroom wall praying for all of her children and all her grandchildren. My mother’s voice was now softer and weaker, but her prayers always soaked our family with tender, Heavenly love.

As I write this article my mother is dying. Our family has been caring for her for years but we are on the final count-down for her to walk into Heaven to embrace the arms of the loving Heavenly Father that she has been talking to for decades. Right now she is surrounded by her loving family and she is grateful for everything and everyone with every breath she takes. As we hold her hand or stroke her face she expresses her love to us: “You are my diamonds on this earth.” This family is one royal love affair.” “May God bless you for everything you are doing for me.”

Late at night as I sleep on her sofa I still hear her feeble, gentle voice breaking forth in praise as she talks to the One who is her Comforter, her Provider, her El-Roi…the strong One who sees. She never complains but calls out, “You are Majesty, Ruler of Heaven and Earth, my Provider, my Protector. You are everything to me. I am looking forward to seeing You face to face.”

My mother has a royal love affair with Jesus.

When she was a young mother with three little children she made a choice to accept Jesus’ invitation to have a personal relationship with Him.  Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of her sins and the assurance of eternal life, my mother’s last days are spent in abiding peace. I believe it is my mother’s prayers that softened my rebellious heart and through her diligent prayers I was ushered me to the foot of the cross when I was 32.  Through my mother’s beautiful example of pouring her Heavenly Father’s love on our family, every one of her children and grandchildren are honoring God with their lives.

During this painful time as we are doing so many things “for the last time” our family has the abiding peace that comes from a hope that is beyond our human understanding. My mother never wrote a book, had a platform or made headline news, but she is leaving us a legacy that will carry us all into an eternity called “Heaven”. She modeled how the power of prayer enables us to place all our yearnings, struggles, fears, pain and inadequacies into the hands of the One who holds our life in the palm of His hands.

All this beauty made possible because the Son of God came down from his Glory in Heaven to die for all our sins so that we can experience this unfathomable royal love affair.