Hope in the face of death (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13)
Everybody dies. My mother-in-law intended to be ready.
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She had been fine when we had seen her last, only a week before. Sure, life at age 89 moved at a slower pace, but my mother-in-law still managed to work the daily crossword in ink, share lunch with friends, and enjoy visits from the children who addressed their crayoned artwork “To Grandma-the-Great.”