Finally Home

Sunday, November 21, 2021, my mother, Kittie Mckinney, lost her battle with cancer and passed away at home surrounded by family. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer back in February of this year. Unfortunately, the cancer had already spread throughout her body by the time it was detected. Elizabeth, my sister who was living in Indiana at the time, moved back to Raleigh to help care for Kittie. My family returned from Tanzania in April to also walk with Kittie through this cancer journey. Initially the chemo treatments were helping, but after several months the cancer eventually spread to her brain.

Here is a link to her obituary:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/newsobserver/name/kittie-mckinney-obituary?id=31648041&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=obitsharebeta&__FB_PRIVATE_TRACKING__=%7B%22loggedout_browser_id%22%3A%22433f93f01f20a1c69dc9f7a2c918080a6a124258%22%7D&fbclid=IwAR2s8-Aft-iTgRqcPja6QWoPsxlgRFzPQ7-va_meB7os4SOYY6QbliqL1RA

Kittie was a wonderful mother and an even more wonderful grandmother to our four children. She loved being "Grandma Kittie", and our kids loved it when she came over or took them out to eat or shopping! Just 15 days before she died, we had a nice Saturday afternoon at the park together (pictured above). It was a cold day, but she enjoyed being outside with the "Grands" (grandkids) as she called them. We had just found out that the cancer had spread to her brain but did not know she only had two weeks to live.

Kittie made two trips out to Tanzania to visit us within one year. Once at Christmas, and then again for her 70th birthday. On one of her visits, we visited an orphanage (pictured above) where her love for children was visible to all. She also loved elephants, and asked if we could go see some while visiting for her birthday. I did some homework and drove us all down to Katavi National Park about 8 hours south of Kigoma. We ventured into the game park the next day and eventually found some elephants (pictured below)! We did not know that this would be her last visit to Africa and her last chance to do something like this, but we sure are glad she finally got to mark this off her bucket list! :)

When we returned to Raleigh, NC in April of this year from Tanzania, we rented an apartment on a short term lease near our church. A month later, Elizabeth and Kittie also rented an apartment at the same complex, which allowed us to spend more time together and be available to help on short notice. We decided to have "Taco Tuesday" each Tuesday evening at our apartment, which included a taco dinner followed by a Bible study on the Gospel of John. We were able to continue our "Taco Tuesdays" most weeks through the summer and all the way into October, finishing 12 chapters in John.

During our Bible studies Kittie never asked questions, but she was always listening and engaged. She would request her favorite hymn, "Softly and Tenderly" and a few other classic hymns which we would play on the TV through Youtube with the lyrics and sing along together before each study. These evenings were sweet times together and gave us great memories we will cherish for a long time. Kittie would also join us at church on Wednesday nights and Sundays as she was able. She especially liked the Wednesday night meeting where she would join the ladies' prayer group. She eventually purchased her own Bible near the end of the summer and began reading on her own.

When I returned from my two week trip to Tanzania on November 3, Kittie began to decline. A trip to the ER that same week, followed by more tests, including an MRI of the brain revealed more bad news--the cancer had spread into her brain. I think she could sense that her time was short as she had a hard time sleeping that Saturday night. I stayed home from church that Sunday morning to sit with her and we watched the meetings on Zoom. It was then that she asked to meet with John Gordon, one of the pastors from our church. Johnny came by later that evening at 6:30pm and sat down with Kittie, Elizabeth, and myself. Johnny asked Kittie what she would like to talk about, she burst into tears and said, "I don't have long to live on this earth, and I want to be saved!" Johnny led her to Romans 10:13 which says, "For whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Before any of us could blink she had bowed her head and was asking the Lord Jesus to save her and forgive her of her sins! She said that she had been thinking about getting saved, and didn't know why she had been stubborn about it for so long. We called Jennifer and invited the "Grands" over to celebrate her decision to trust Christ as her Savior. (Pictured below)

Kittie got saved at 6:30pm on November 7, 2021. It was so sweet to hear her tell the kids about the decision she had made. We wrote down her spiritual birthday in the front of her Bible and she wanted us to write all of our spiritual birthdays also! We prayed together and shed tears of joy. It was a night we will never forget.

We didn't know at the time, but Kittie had only two weeks left after this day, and only a few days left of mental awareness. On Monday November 8th, Kittie was severely nauseated and needed to be taken to her oncologist for fluids and meds. It was on that visit that the Dr. showed me the brain MRI and the "innumerable" (as the scan described them) small tumors in her brain. The nausea was not coming from the stomach, but the brain. On Thursday, our final trip to the oncologist, Kittie made the hard decision to stop all treatments and choose quality of life for her remaining days.

Kittie's younger sister Katrina, who was a hospice nurse in New Mexico, came out to visit and check on Kittie. She ended up staying longer than originally planned and helping Elizabeth and I with Kittie's care. She would later be joined by Dorothy, her daughter, and together were a tremendous help. Elizabeth and I could not have done it without them! Karen (another sister) and her daughter Alta also were a huge help bringing or preparing food and just spending time with us and helping in various ways. Kittie had the best loving care she could have possibly received! It was only ten days after her decision to stop treatments, shortly after 9pm on Sunday November 21 that Kittie passed peacefully into the Lord's presence... Finally Home.

Her favorite hymn, "Softly and Tenderly" goes like this:

"Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling

Calling for you and for me

See on the portals He's waiting and watching

Watching for you and for me

Come home, come home

Ye who are weary come home

Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling

Calling O sinner, come home."

Kittie had listened, thought through what she heard from God's Word on our Taco Tuesdays and at church, concluded that Jesus truly loved her and died for her sins, and trusted Him as her Savior. Her entrance into heaven was not based on good deeds done in her life, church attendance, baptism, or how well she dressed; it was based on her decision to trust Christ as her Savior and receive forgiveness for her sins. We will miss Kittie as we finish our time on this earth, but we know where she is... Finally Home.

Jesus is the dividing point of life, my life, Kittie's life, and your life. I am having to restrain myself from preaching here!!! I would suggest everyone who does not have this hope to do just what Kittie did, consider, listen, read and see what the Bible says for yourself and make your own decision. If you will honestly do that, I know you will find that Jesus is calling you as well, softly and tenderly calling you home.

Below are a few simple Bible verses that explain the way Home:

John 14:6

"Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me."

Romans 3:23

"All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."

Romans 5:8

"But God demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 6:23

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Romans 10:13

"For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."