A Sister Forevermore

Proverbs 31:10-12

Linda Booker, became a Rouse in the 1970s. Difficulties would find her, it seems, much too soon to some, but in time to others. Whatever the matter of facts, she has handled life by making good decisions through it all. In one of the most significant cities in the United States of America, she came through public schools, earned a degree in education, and raised her children to be positive contributors in the world. Linda is "Mother" to a successful Christian novelist - Nicole, and the belated Bernard II, who was murdered in 2004 south of the metropolis. He was taken too soon from the world he had come to know with Tangie, his wife, and three children (at the time of his death, Tangie was five months pregnant with their third child.

Linda married into a family where parental love was worn on the shoulders. Mother Rouse and Daddy Rouse (both deceased) had no shame in showing their favor toward their children. With three sons they learned to both favor the elder son and share times in favoring the 2nd and 3rd sons with Mother holding tight to the "knee baby", while Daddy nurtured the baby boy. Linda married the knee baby, and the embrace of Mother Rouse was nothing short of that for a daughter she longed to cherish. Mother Rouse died on April 15, 2002, but the knowledge of her love for Linda remains in the awareness of all concerned. Ms. Booker, a strong matriarch, widow, and beloved mother in her own right, has been the role model for Linda and the wind beneath the wings of all her children. So, when Linda faced surgery recently there was the love of her Mother yet alive, and the representative love from a Mother, who died.

Alarming was a recent message sent from Mother's "knee baby", who is being adored and attended to so well by a loving wife - Ruth. His message called the family to prayers for Linda. Giving immediate attention to the matter, her sister-in-law, who had married this baby boy in 1977 discerned with a sense of overwhelming compassionate need to reach our novelist. She learned the life threatening nature of Linda's condition and also issued a call to pray in remembrance of the times.

The times of love and war. The times when heart matters triump over mental discord and legal disconnects. The times of precious memories yeilding times for precious people to care. A time to pray for healing and reconciliation. A time for a yearning philosopher to feast on how precious love is beyond the self. Soren Kierkegaard, the "singular universal" left a mark of universal significance, when he wrote prolific on the matter of "ideal creatures" - women.

Reflecting back through the years, there among the assurances is the fact that Linda Booker Rouse is a sister forevermore, and am praying for her recovery. I, the least of all, remember so very well how boys becoming men take girls to be precious women, and then ... What follows the then in life? You choose.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us and heal, so that we are healed indeed. Amen.