I am in a difficult stage of life. I am blessed to have wonderful parents, who at the age of 90 and 92, are unfortunately experiencing major health issues. I am the oldest of three children and the only daughter. I live five hours away from them, but do my best to visit them as often as I am able. 

Both parents are now living in a local retirement community. My father is in the independent living wing, and my mother is in memory care. My mother was diagnosed with dementia when she was 80 years old and began receiving medication that extended her life and capabilities by several years. She entered memory care several years ago and is now on palliative hospice care. 

Despite this diagnosis, my mother still recognizes me when I come to visit her. We look at photo albums, listen to music and sing hymns on my visits. When I enter her room, I will say “Hello mother,” kiss her cheek and ask if she knows who I am. She will reply by confidently stating my name. 

But on recent visits, her first response has been “You are mine” and then she would usually follow by saying my name.

Her declaration that “You are mine” has stayed with me. As she is losing her memory, I love that my mother still knows that I am her daughter and declares, "You are mine."

Jesus stated in John 10:27-28, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

Despite the hardships of this life, we can be assured that God promises to never abandon us. If we have accepted his free gift of salvation, we are his and he is ours, until the end of eternity. This verse reminds us that no earthly trial or work of man will remove us from the family of God. 

Who knows what will transpire when we get to heaven, but it reassures me that when my mother meets her Lord and Savior, she may hear Him say, “You are mine.”

Written by Jerilynn Armstrong, senior director of corporate & foundation giving, Buckner International