Jennifer Rothschild’s Heaven Bible study walks participants through many Scriptures in the Old and New Testaments that give us insights about Heaven. It feels irresponsible and redundant for me to summarize such complex theology and nuanced perspectives in brief blog posts. However, as I’ve worked through her study, personal experiences related to the end of life and Heaven have come to mind. So, instead of unpacking the workbook sessions, I’ll share a few stories that I hope will bring hope and encouragement to you. First up is a reflection on a journey I took with an unlikely companion as her life was coming to a close.
A few times a year I used to walk across the street to my elderly neighbor’s faded blue house. With my young sons in tow, we’d bring flowers from our yard or treats from our kitchen to brighten her day. She didn’t drive and rarely left the house. The first few times we knocked on her door, she was suspicious and stone-faced. She stood at the threshold to shield us from the mess inside as we tried making small talk over the droning of her TV. But behind a tangle of gray hair and a haze of cigarette smoke we were surprised to discover a wry sense of humor and a trove of fascinating stories. With each visit, the door opened wider until one day, she invited us inside.
Over the years Maxine shared fragments of her life story. Many of the memories were sad, but she recollected them with surprising detachment. In time I pieced together a history that helped me understand her hardened exterior. A bitter divorce from a cheating husband left Maxine feeling rejected and alone. When her younger sister with four small kids was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Maxine moved in to care for her. After the loss of her sister, she stayed to help with the kids and eventually found temporary comfort in the arms of her grieving brother in law. A short-lived romance ended with guilt, shame, and estrangement from the nieces and nephews she’d nurtured through the death of their mom.
Our paths crossed later when she retired and moved into the house across the street to care for her aging mother. Bitterness had already grown deep roots in her heart by then and she remained at a cool distance when we’d stop by to visit. When her mom died a few years later, we didn’t hear about it until several months had passed. Knocking on the door to offer belated condolences, a card and flowers, her gruff demeanor revealed protective layers she’d put on after one too many losses. Still, that act of compassion opened the door for a slowly growing friendship in the years that followed.
One afternoon almost a decade later, I heard from a different neighbor that the “old lady in the blue house” had been taken away in an ambulance. While in the hospital, her doctors determined living alone was no longer a viable option, so Maxine made plans to sell her house and move into a board and care home. Her health continued on a steady decline there over the following weeks. One day I arrived to find her in bed staring vacantly toward the television. Josie, the House Director, was on the phone making arrangements for hospice care. I’d had several conversations with Josie during my visits and we’d bonded realizing we shared a common faith and a desire to see Maxine experience God’s love.
Despite my hopes, discussing spiritual things had never been comfortable between Maxine and me. She knew about my faith and had sometimes poked fun at me for visiting her to earn “Brownie Points” in Heaven. I longed for her to accept God’s love before she died but felt awkward and unsure what to say. Sitting on the edge of her bed, I breathed a silent prayer for courage. “Maxine, do you know why I’ve been helping you so much?” She raised her eyebrows, tried to speak and sighed in defeat. My heart pounded as I continued, “I want you to know that God loves you. I believe He put me in your life to help you, just like you cared for your sister and your mom in their last days.” She frowned, but I kept talking, “You and I have different opinions about God, but I’m going to keep telling you He loves you until you believe it.” Unable to retort with her usual sarcasm, she remained quiet until her eyelids grew heavy. Hoping to continue the conversation, I left planning to return the next day.
The phone rang while I was making school lunches for my boys the following morning. “Hi, Marybeth? It’s Josie.” Dreading what she’d say next, I squeezed my eyes shut. “I wanted to let you know that Maxine passed away last night.”
Disappointment and sadness overwhelmed me. My throat tightened and tears formed in the corners of my eyes before spilling down my cheeks. How could she be gone already?
Josie continued, “I called to tell you about the last conversation I had with Maxine.” I wiped my nose and took a deep breath as she continued. “Every day I told her God loved her, but she never seemed to believe me. Last night I took a chance and asked if she wanted to accept the Lord’s love and be with Him forever. I think she must have known the end was near because instead of rolling her eyes she answered ‘yes.’ Maxine prayed with me to receive God’s love and forgiveness through Jesus. She passed away a few hours later.”
The lump in my throat kept me from responding. As the tears flowed down my cheeks, I stammered, “You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that. Thank you so much for telling me.” Hanging up, I dried my cheeks with my sleeve and thanked God for the time He’d given me to show my neighbor she was loved.
Looking back, I see Maxine’s life contained a steady stream of hurt and disappointment that had become the mortar for a thick wall of pride. A powerful combination of rejection and loss had made her feel unlovable and alone. It had been safer for her to withdraw from the world than to risk being abandoned again. Believing she’d made too many mistakes, she assumed even God wouldn’t want her. Ultimately, her crumbling health dismantled the wall of pride, allowing her to accept a love she could enjoy forever.
Weeks later, two of Maxine’s old friends knocked on my door looking for information about her. There hadn’t been a funeral and they wanted to celebrate her life, so they invited another neighbor and me to have lunch and share stories about her. Many of the snippets I’d heard about her life made more sense with context from her friends. They knew her as a wild, worldly woman with a sharp tongue, a flair for fashion, and bad luck in love. Because she’d cut off contact after moving in with her mom, they never saw the broken old woman she became. Nor did they know she died as the cherished daughter of the King, redeemed by the love of One who would never leave her.
Maxine’s story reminds me of the thief on the cross who believed Jesus was the Savior and heard Him say, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43, NIV) Maybe you’re lamenting the hard heart of a friend or family member. Let Maxine’s story remind you never to lose hope. God can pierce even the thickest wall of pride with His love, mercy and grace—even in the final moments of life. Or maybe you’re someone who doesn’t believe God could love or forgive you. Consider these hope-filled words from the Bible and let them lead you to believe and be saved:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son…If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness… If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (John 3:16-18, 1 John 1:8-9, Romans 10:9, NIV)
Post inspired by Jennifer Rothschild’s Heaven. Order your copy using this link.
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