Ragweed Season and Memories of Mom

Allergy sufferers, just for your information, this is ragweed season in Kansas, and, by the way, Wichita is the worst place to be if you are allergic to ragweed. Ragweed season is from late summer to early fall, peaking in mid-September, which would be right about now. If you have ragweed allergies you probably know more about it than I do. I have just been looking up some information about ragweed because I think I have just had the worst couple of weeks of allergy symptoms in my life. Ragweed allergy symptoms; here are some. The following are the ones I have and are not the most severe, but they are extremely irritating. Nasal Symptoms: Stuffy or runny nose Sneezing Post-nasal drip (mucus draining down the back of the throat) Eye Symptoms: Itchy, red, or watery eyes Puffy or swollen eyes Throat Symptoms: Itchy or scratchy throat My mother used to tell me about ragweed when it was ragweed season. She even said when the cows would eat it, it would make the milk taste funny. I have experienced that. It tastes like it's beginning to go bad. This may seem hard to believe, but you can look it up for yourself. I just did, and, indeed, ragweed consumption by cows can cause the milk to have a bitter taste. I've been noticing that in the milk at school. Not every day, thank goodness. Ragweed is just one of many things that makes me think about my mother and how glad I am that she had believed in Jesus and was born again. This means that I have that wonderful assurance that I will see her again after I die. I miss her. I missed her for a long time when she was still alive but very disabled because of a a brain bleed or hemorrhagic stroke, and my half-brother was her caregiver. He did not want me to come over for a very long time, a period of estrangement that continues until today, four years since her passing. In fact, this summer was her 100th birthday. She died at 96. Mysteries I will not solve until after I die: Is my sister there? Will my brothers be there? Will some others be there? There are those who I know are there, and there are those I don't know whether or not they will be there. I have been thinking about this a lot, how I want people to know that it is a very heavy burden not to know if someone you love is going to be in heaven or not. Jesus has been very clear about who will be there and who will not, and if you are not sure, you can find out by reading the Bible. It is written in Isaiah, "The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath. He shall say, 'Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, And all shall be ashamed Who are incensed against Him" (Isaiah 45:23-24). Next month it will also be seven years since my sister died by suicide, and I don't have a lot of evidence that she had turned to the Lord. That doesn't mean that she didn't, just that I don't know. It's hard to believe she did, because I feel like she would have called me if she had, and she would not have taken her life if she had, because turning to Jesus leads one to life not to take life away. There are many things that are heavy on our hearts at any given time. We all have burdens, we all need God, even though many hearts have grown cold, and that is very sad. But God is calling people to come to Himself. He is always calling to us, some choose to hear and some choose to resist. God commanded in the Ten Commandments that we are to have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3) but we have worshiped many gods in this day and age, and yet we all have been given time to decide to obey or not to obey the call of God. I know I will see my mom in heaven. Will I see you?