Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and your mother …”
Olga P. Bell, born Nov. 19, 1923, joined her husband, mother, and siblings in Heaven on March 2, 2025. She was 101 years old. She always wanted to depart earth and join her husband and mother in Heaven in the month of February. She missed it by two days.
Her granddaughter said, “She deserved her own month to die.” We thoroughly agree. Our family dynamics were difficult, at best. Coupled with her living in our home for the last 13 years, the relationship was strained most of the time.
We were raised to never disrespect our parents, and that included “talking back to them” in any negative matter. So many times, not speaking worked best when I was growing up and as she lived in our home for 13 years.
When Hospice, along with Franklin House personnel, called to tell me to come quickly, I was extremely surprised at my reaction. I had a painful sadness that overwhelmed me to sobbing.
My mother had agreed to take residence at Franklin House in October 2024. She was extremely happy to be around people and activities and I visited her daily. This is what had happened in the last three months that she had been in this lovely, bright, sunny facility: She was the bell of the ball. She had the strength and stamina of a 70 to 80 year old. Everyone loved her. She took her tablet everywhere so she could tell stories of her life via photos.
Three weeks ago, she fell while organizing her closet and fractured her back. This resulted in pain meds and bed rest. During the 13 years in our home, a dear friend was her caregiver and confidant. During those years, this friend planted seeds of Jesus Christ and the gospel when she spent time with my mother.
Then, two months ago, another dear friend visited with my mother for an hour. During that hour, Olga Bell received Jesus as her Savior, and she expressed her sorrow for her negative relationships with her children as well as not dedicating her life to Jesus sooner. They talked about her salvation.
Before she died, I spoke to my mother and I didn’t ask her about her time with my friend; however, she just started talking about Jesus on her own. She affirmed that she had received Jesus and told me how sad she was for the way she had treated us – her five children.
We read in the scriptures about the thief on the cross – the one who acknowledged Jesus as God while he hung next to Jesus. He never denied he was a thief, but at that moment of acknowledging Jesus as God and his Savior, Jesus said: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
On Sunday morning, March 2, at 8:45 a.m., our mother was greeted by Jesus, her husband, her mother, her siblings, and prayerfully many more family members and friends.
It’s weird, but I was brought to repentance for complaining for 13 years about my mother’s problematic demeanor when I should have humbled myself for His purpose in her life. Those 13 years my mother lived with my husband, Tom, and me were never about me but about Jesus and His mercy and grace to those who receive Him as Savior. My mother’s eternity with Jesus far surpassed my wants on earth.
While my mother’s pride in her abilities and accomplishments prevented her from receiving Jesus before last month, and she never saw herself as ever doing wrong, Jesus used her time in this wonderful nursing home to truly see who she was in Christ and how we all need Him desperately.
My sister and I both affirmed we are not stuck in who our mother was but who she became the day she received Jesus. Amen and Amen!
My advice and plea for you: please don’t give up praying for unsaved (and sometimes unlovable) loved ones. Please trust God’s timing, even if it seems like it’s at your expense. We are called to love sacrificially. Unfortunately, often we have to face difficult times to ‘get it.’ Eternity with God is real, and we should want that for everyone.