Thoughts About Home June 11, 2009

For Rex’s mother, home was the farm on Keener Road. It was the place she and her husband purchased when they were first married. Tree by tree and rock by rock, the land was cleared for farming. They did all the work themselves. At the end of the day, they would return to their little timber house exhausted and ready to rest.

It was in that home that she raised her 7 children. Many of them were born right on the farm. Rex will tell you that every inch of that land holds a memory. From the woods where they hunted and the pond where they fished to the fields where they spent countless hours picking cotton by hand. Their home was simple. It didn’t have any of the modern conveniences that we consider to be necessities. For example, Eunice spent hours outside washing clothes by hand, even during the ice cold days of winter. It wasn’t until her mid-eighties that she began to use a dryer!

Life was not easy on the farm, but it was home. This past year Eunice’s health deteriorated and necessitated an extended stay in the nursing home. Although the staff was wonderful and family visited frequently, Eunice wanted to spend her last days on earth at home. The doctor mentioned the possibility of going home by a specific date. Although there was no chance that she would be able to take care of herself, her children knew their mom’s desire and were willing to do whatever it took to allow her to return to her beloved homestead.

The date the doctor had mentioned arrived. Olene, Rex’s oldest sister who had become like a mother to her mother, went to the nursing home. She shared with me that her mother knew exactly what day it was. She was probably secretively counting down the days! When Olene walked into the room, she smiled at her mom. And Eunice lit up and smiled back. Then she started yelling, “I’m going home! I’m going home!”

Eunice got her wish. She was able to go home. And on April 24^th she breathed in her final breath of the fresh Keener country air.

That, however, is definitely not my final image of Eunice Keener. I had plenty of conversations with her to know that her life has only begun. There is NO question in my mind that 99.9999% of her life will be spent in Eternity. The thrill of going home to the farm, therefore, did not even compare to the joy she experienced when she stepped through the door of Heaven and heard her Savior say, “Welcome home!” I know she was jumping and shouting with inexpressible joy, “I’m home! I’m really home!”

“I tell you truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me

has eternal life and will not be condemned;

he has crossed over from death to life.”

John 5:24