My Shepherd

I spent most of yesterday thinking the weather had knocked out our Internet service. Then I noticed the lights on the router weren’t even on. Darn cats! They had managed to bounce out the power cord somehow during the night.

I appreciated the fact that the local news stations so diligently kept us in the know of yesterday’s winter storm pattern, but if they were going to interrupt all regular television from 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., I would have liked to at least have seen a snow flake.

We kept hearing, “Brace yourselves. Brace yourselves. Here comes the ice and snow!”

We didn’t even see a flake until 7 p.m.! Oh well, I missed Rachael Ray, but they were smart enough not to cancel Days of Our Lives. Ha!

***

I started a very, very, very part-time job yesterday – just something to make a little spending money each month. I will be updating and maintaining the county’s District 2 Web site – www.grantdistrict2.com.

I’m excited about doing a little work while staying in touch with our county’s happenings at the same time. Plus, I get to work from home while the kids are in school.

***

I finished reading the book of Genesis this morning. I had read it a few years ago, but it was so good to read it again. I love those first stories. I have a hard time keeping all the people straight, but each time I read about them, I remember a little bit more.

Also, included in my readings this morning (yes, I did two days’ worth because I skipped yesterday) was Psalm 23, which always reminds me of my Grandma Dotterer.

During the end of her life, we went to visit her in the hospital once when she was very sick. I was sitting with her beside her bed when the hospital minister came in and prayed with her and asked her if he could read her some Scripture. She requested Psalm 23.

At that time, I remember thinking, “Why would my grandmother choose such a simple verse?”

She was a very Godly woman, and I knew she could have asked for many verses by memory. I expected her to pick a passage perhaps unheard by “commoners,” like myself, who did not know the Bible as well as she did.

Instead, she picked the verse almost everyone knows by heart: the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want.

As I listened to the pastor read the verse, I watched the tears roll down my grandmother’s eyes. I saw fear in her eyes and could tell she was not ready to leave this earth.

That is strange to me now because of all the people I know, Grandma Dotterer was by far the most deserving of spending eternity in Heaven. She was the one who was in church every Sunday, who prayed continually as Paul instructs us to do and who read her Bible every day.

She was indeed committed to the Lord in all ways, and God’s light radiated from her. She was kind, quiet, humble, meek, protective, shy, loving, generous, miraculous, joyful and a thousand other words. She was Elma Rebecca Harvey Dotterer, and she was my grandmother.

I credit her for teaching me that God is our savior and nothing else matters. Her life and her demeanor was a perfect demonstration of that.

I attended the Friends Church in Cherokee with her until the fourth grade. Then I made the switch to the First Christian Church. I still remember the disappointment in her face when I told her I was going to change churches. Even though the churches sat catty-corner from each other, it felt like I was moving out of town. Although she did not want to see the Friends Church lose a congregation member – especially a young member – she was glad I was continuing on with another congregation, which she knew would welcome me with open arms. And they did.

Grandma died when I was a sophomore in high school. I was in Stillwater at the state speech tournament when she passed. My mom called while I was in our hotel room one evening to tell me the news. I cried but felt at peace. I think we had all grown weary of seeing grandma suffer. She was diabetic, and her disease had gotten the best of her.

Kathy Wessels, who was a sponsor at the speech tournament, asked me 10 million times that night if I was OK. I kept telling her I was fine, and truthfully, I was. Grandma Dotterer was my last living grandparent, but looking back, I would have to say she was my only “living” grandparent. She was the only one who understood, walked in and tried to pass on the light of Jesus. I guarantee everyone who knew her and came in contact with her saw and felt that light. Even those who knew nothing about her, I’m sure, could feel it.

Her light has definitely led me where I am today.

… Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:8

Psalm 23
A psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.


4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, [a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.


5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Readings:

Matthew 10:1-20
Acts 15:1-21
Psalm 23
Genesis 50

Matthew 10:21-42
Acts 15:22-41
Psalm 24
Exodus 1-3