Tag: Angels

Clowns

My mom was a collector and had two prominent collections. One was angels. When she passed away in 2009 I set up a table in the fellowship hall of the church where we had her funeral, and set out all her angels with a sign saying “take an angel to remember Ruby”. It was a hit…the angels were all gone by the end of the luncheon.

This is an angel I saved from my mother’s collection. It has a favorite scripture etched into it:
Isaiah 40:11
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
    He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
    he gently leads those that have young.

Her other significant collection was clowns. She had a pretty sophisticated clown collection, with many clowns by specific artists. We eventually sold most of them…but didn’t get their true value. 

The clown I kept from my mother’s collection.

One favorite clown that I saved was a tall clown on a stand, with different masks hanging from its neck to interchange. When our sons were little, they‘d go to grandma and ask if they could change the masks…when she said yes, they very carefully took off one mask and replaced it with another. That clown sits on top of our bookshelf in our sunroom now. I saved a few smaller, whimsical clowns that are tucked in different places throughout the house. 

A glass clown figure tucked into the corner of a curio cabinet.

For many years a clown picture, that my mom cross-stitched, hung in my laundry room. It had been in the guest room where the grandkids slept when they came to visit, but the picture scared them, so we moved it out. I agree, clowns can be kind of scary. 

The cross-stitch picture my mother made.

The cross-stitch is large with bright colors. It is professionally framed in a blue frame with glass. Unfortunately, we have no place to display it in our new home, so I decided to sell it (after checking with other family members.) The gal who bought it is thrilled to have it, and that makes it easier to part with…it will be on display for others to enjoy, instead of in a box in the garage.

There was a variety of clowns in my mom’s collection.

Of course, to this day, whenever I see a clown I think of my mom. She had a fun and unique collection.

Happy Mother’s Day

My favorite parenting verse is Isaiah 40:11:

He tends his flock like a shepherd:
    He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
    he gently leads those that have young.

This angel sits in the corner on a shelf in my walk-in closet, visible everyday. It is special to me because it was my mother’s…and it highlight’s my favorite parenting verse.

My mother had a collection of angel figurines. I kept one from her collection (pictured above) but I didn’t want the others. An idea came to me to give them away at her funeral luncheon, held in the church basement.

I had not seen that done before (12 years ago now) so I asked a few others if it was a good idea to give away the angels at her funeral, and I got a lot of encouragement to do so. Since that time, I have seen collections given away at funerals.  

I displayed her angel collection on two tables and made a sign inviting guests to take an angel home with them in remembrance of my mom. All the angels were taken that day, and it was comforting.

A Christmas Festival Angel

Three years ago, around this time of year, my husband was laid off his job. One evening back then, when I was working at the Christmas Festival, an older woman was sitting in the lobby near the box office. I don’t even remember how we struck up a conversation but I found out she lives out of state and has relatives in the festival so came to see the Christmas Festival for the first time that year. As we talked I shared about my husband’s job loss. She encouraged me that evening and said she would pray for me, then we parted ways.

Fast forward three years to Thursday night. She came back to attend the Christmas Festival and came to the box office to check on me. She told me she often wondered how things had turned out for me. I was blessed by this. We visited awhile and she promised she would continue to pray for me…and she would add my friend’s family to her prayer list.

Our conversation was sweet. I told her I wished she lived in my town so we could get together for tea every now and then. I’m delighted to know, and truly believe, she is praying for me and my friend! I’m grateful. I’m calling her my Christmas Festival Angel.