Some of the Psalms Mum Loved

"The Lord will give His people strength,

and with peace bless them all."

                                                                           Psalm 29:11 (Scottish Metrical Psalms)

These words came with such force to Mum in December '16, when she was down in a Glasgow hospital having some tests done. Mum had had some rather unpleasant tests and was, without doubt, anxious about their results. Indeed, the result of these test was what gave us all the news in that first week of January this year that she had terminal cancer.

However, during that day or two in Glasgow, the Lord spoke these words into her heart. She wasn't even aware she knew a Psalm with these words, and to begin with, she had no idea where the words were to be found. 

But she soon found them....

...and circled them in her Bible.

*      *      *

Mum read from this Bible every day, and the Psalms (as you can see!) were frequently visited.

 

See all the notations at the end of each Psalm? As she systematically read through the metrical Psalms, she drew a wee tick - or number, or line, or circle, or stroke! As you can see, Mum was pretty much running out of marks to use, so frequent was her readings of these wonderful words from God's Word.

Here were some of her favourites:

These words: 

"And by my God assisting me,

I overleap a wall"

                                                       (Psalm 18:29b)

were made very precious to Mum both before she first sat at the Lord's Table for the first time, and then before an operation she was having in 1987.

*      *      *

Now, do you remember me posting in the past about my Mum's auntie Catriona? Read here to get a fuller story of her emigration, and her eventual passing in BC, Canada. Well, these verses were made very precious to Auntie Catriona in her loneliness and her heartache.

"Teirgidh iadsan 's thèid iad às

ach mairidh tusa, Dhè:

Seadh teirgidh iadsan 's gabhaidh seach

mar eudach sean gu lèir.

Feuch caochlaidh tu mar thrusgan iad,

is caochl'ear iad gun cheist'.

Tha thus' a mhàin gun chaochladh ort,

's do bhliadhnaidh buan am feast'.

                                                                                     (Psalm 102:2627, Gaelic)

Mum has these circled in her Bible too, with a reference to Auntie Catriona. It's quite a thought that they are now together.

Quite a thought, indeed.

*      *      *

One more:

Since Mum became ill, these words at the beginning of Psalm 77 became a constant favourite too. She asked me to read them to her time and time again over these past months. She would say, 'Read them in Gaelic. They have so much more power'.

"Dh'èigh mi ri Dia gu h-àrd le 'm ghuth,

dh'èigh mi le m'ghuth gu h-àrd;

Is thug e, 'nuair a ghlaodh mi ris,

sàr-èisdeachd dhomh gun dàil."

She would say to me, 'Oh, Anne, 'dh'èigh mi ... dh'èigh mi gu h-àrd. Agus dh'èist e.....gun dàil'

*      *      *

On the night Mum passed away, as we left Bethesda Hospice in the early hours of the morning, these were the words that hit me so strongly:

 The storm is changed into a calm

at His command and will;

So that the waves, which raged before,

now quiet are and still.

Then are they glad, because at rest

and quiet now they be:

So to the haven He them brings,

which they desired to see.

                                                                Psalm 107:29, 30

When I looked through Mum's bible, she had already circled these words. They'd obviously meant something to her (at different times - notice the different pens used), and now they'd spoken to me about Mum.

God's Word is so precious, and surely the Psalms are truly an 'anatomy of the soul', as John Calvin called them. How many souls - in times of great joy and in times of great sorrow; in times of thanksgiving, and in times of pleading  - resort to the Psalms and find comfort there?

We are still in times of sorrow, of grieving, of pleading, and yes of thanksgiving too. Whilst Mum has few of these emotions now, we still crave comfort and encouragement from the Psalms she knew and loved so well.

Fantastic Fun, Food, and Family

Last week, I had the pleasure of going to lunch with these two lovely ladies. I posted a photo of them on the Homeschool on the Croft Facebook page on the morning of the lunch, but as I couldn't find this photo ....

... I posted this one, taken at a wedding a couple of years ago.

I realised after I posted it, that Her Majesty takes her inspiration from these ladies.

See? 

She actually trawls my blog and facebook page, looking for photos of Mum and Auntie Jessie and then she copies their mode of dress. I like your thinking, Your Majesty: they are worth emulating.

Well, seeing we enjoyed our meal so much, and seeing I love to talk about food, and because I assume everyone in the world thinks like I think, I'm going to talk you through my lunch date, from the food point of view.

Here was the selection of starters:

My Mum had the fruit platter, and I didn't photograph it. I know it was lovely, and it looked gorgeous, but I can't get my head around going out to lunch and having a plate of fruit. Please don't get me wrong, I have nothing against fruit. I love it in its own place. But when I go out for a meal, I like to feel the calories on my fork, in my mouth, and sliding onto whichever of my spare tyres they decide to make their home.

It's all part of the experience. 

This is the starter Auntie Jessie and I had, and I have to say that it was simply perfection on a plate.

Oatmeal coated black pudding and apple bon bons, with maple pulled pork spring roll, and grain mustard sauce. 

It was a delight to eat. The mixtures of flavours and of textures = starter perfection.

The main course menu:

I never have chicken when eating out (I'm normally a fish person, unless a lamb dish tempts away from the fruit of the sea), but I really was tempted by the first choice on the menu.

In the end, I didn't have it, but Mum did. I did steal a couple of forkfuls, simply for research purposes and it was all scrumptious.

Auntie Jessie went for the deep fried haddock with home made chips.

She has had this before at Digby Chicks, and she always loves it when she has it.

I had this plateful of deliciousness: it's a fillet of hake on a bed of crushed new potatoes. Yes, fish is almost always my choice, and I was certainly not disappointed at my choice that day. The fish was delectable, and the combination of flavours and textures, especially the prawn toast, was amazing!

Yum!

When we'd finished these courses, the waitress asked whether we wished to see the Dessert Menu.

She had to ask??

All three of us were in agreement: we all went for the iced dime bar gateau.

A refreshing and tasty end to our meal. 

There was enough depth in the sweet to make me feel like I'd really had a pudding. Yet it was light and so didn't make us feel like we were uncomfortably full. Dime bar ice cream + meringue + fruitiness ... what was there not to love?

After lunch, we wandered in town, met folks on various street corners, had blethers and yarns with friends we hadn't seen for quite some time. We popped into various shops and bought bits and bobs that were needed. When all that was done, we headed to Marina's (my sister) for laughter and tea (neither were in short supply), and then onto Donna's (my sister in law (relatives are so useful ...) ) for more tea and more blethering. 

What a blessing these days are. Food, friends, family, unexpected meetings, laughter, and more food, family and friends: all these are such undeserved gifts that God in His providence has seen fit to give us. I hope, having been ready to enjoy the day so much, I was equally ready to give thanks for the day.