Four O'Clock

Today I managed to mess up some purple x’s. Not surprising, I guess. The fact that I got through last week without incident should have told me something. Did I really think I could do it yet again? Nope. It was only wishful thinking. I don’t know how I did what I did, but it was too complicated to figure out. We even got out a magnifying glass! That right there ought to tell you something. Mrs. Nagy said, “Just let that be Michelle’s signature.” Isn’t she just the sweetest?

And then there’s Rachel. Miss Perfect Student. Hmph.

We talk non-stop the entire time we’re there. I’m really amazed we get anything done at all. But women have this wonderful ability to multi-task (although me and cross stitching might be the exception). We started talking about Rachel playing piano and her need for a big challenging piece (she’s been bored lately). Mrs. Nagy shared how she taught herself many years ago to play piano just so she could play the old hymns. One thing lead to another and the next thing I know, she’s telling us the song she would like her daughter-in-law to play and sing at her funeral. She started speaking the words to the hymn (which I did not immediately recognize), but found she needed to sing in order to remember the words. Here is this beautiful godly woman singing right there at her dining room table. The old hymn is called The Holy City. I only recognized it after I heard the melody. The words paint a beautiful picture of Heaven.

Here’s the last part of the song…

And once again the scene was changed;
New earth there seemed to be;
I saw the Holy City
Beside the tideless sea;
The light of God was on its streets,
The gates were open wide,
And all who would might enter,
And no one was denied.
No need of moon or stars by night,
Or sun to shine by day;
It was the new Jerusalem
That would not pass away.

Jerusalem! Jerusalem!
Sing for the night is o'er!
Hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna for evermore!

By the way, we talked about flowers too. When they lived in Austria, her mother had a tiny little patch of ground outside their two-room apartment (a converted barrack) where she planted herbs and vegetables. There, a little row of Four O’clocks would grow. These flowers always remind her of her mother. Don’t tell Mrs. Nagy, but I will be on an important mission around Mother’s Day!