In my last post, I wrote about my husband’s grandmother, Elsie, who passed away last week.
Her funeral was today.
What I enjoyed most about Elsie’s funeral (does that sound odd, to say that I enjoyed it?) was the evidence of joy in the midst of sorrow.
Most everyone who attended her funeral, and certainly everyone who spoke at the service, remembered Elsie with fondness and happiness. People laughed, cried, and laughed again as they shared memories of Elsie’s delicious farm-to-table cuisine (before it was trendy), her no-nonsense attitude, her surprising sense of humor, and her incredible work ethic.
But no matter how people knew Elsie, whether family or friend, through church activities or small-town life, they knew that she knew Jesus. And because of that relationship, generations of her family have had the precious opportunity to know him as well.
I discovered today that Elsie was saved at age twenty-nine. For some reason, I had always assumed that she grew up in a Christian home, but this was not so. I never asked her to share her testimony, and now, I wish that I had.
In any case, I wonder – did getting saved as an adult affect her differently than it would have if she had come to know the Lord as a child? What I mean is, those saved as children – and I am one of them – sometimes tend to take the Lord for granted. We are too comfortable with him, and yet perhaps not familiar enough with him to take to heart his command to spread his gospel.
But I have observed that those saved as adults often seem to take the Great Commission seriously, especially within their families. Apparently, Elsie and Carl, her husband, did just that.
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. – Mark 16:15
My children and I were asked to perform the lovely old hymn “In the Garden” at the service. My older two played their guitar and ukulele, and my youngest sang with me. While we sang, I looked toward the back of the church, above the heads of those in the congregation, avoiding eye contact – a strategy I often use when singing in an emotionally-charged situation. (If I see someone crying, I might burst into tears myself.) But my daughter said that she looked out and saw a sea of faces there, full pew after full pew. At least half the people attending were family, and most of those were believers.
From one couple have come generations of Christians, dozens who may not have known the Lord were it not for the faithful witness of Elsie and Carl.
And because of all those Christians there today, this was a joyful funeral. We have a sure hope that we will see Elsie, and Carl, and many more loved ones in heaven one day.
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. – I Corinthians 5:7, 8
For a Christian, death isn’t the end of life. It’s a step into a life more real, more alive, than life on earth could ever be.
The parting of a Christian loved one is the sadness of one going on a long trip. When death is a homegoing, it is hard to be entirely sad
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Amen!
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I have buried many of those who were instrumental in me coming to Jesus. While I miss them I do not begrudge them the gift they have received.
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Wonderful words!😊
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Thank you.
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💕
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Powerful Message!! Thought I’d share this passage! But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words….1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
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Amen. These were passages used by the pastor in his funeral message. Beautiful!
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Wow!! Perfect passages! Blessings to you all!
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This is a beautiful way to start my day.
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😊
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Thank you for sharing this with us. It seems evident to me that their seed has proven to be, and continues to be, a bountiful harvest.
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Thank you for your kind words. 😊
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I was only three years younger than her when I was saved. It has definitely impacted how seriously I take holiness and His sacrifice because I know exactly what kinds of depravity and dead-end thinking I have been saved from.
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Wow, Heather. Thank you for sharing this.
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It is a time of joy as we celebrate a loved one going to Christ. The saddest funeral I have gone to was one who did not believe not did the family. No hope. Nothing to hold on or have anyone hold you. That is our eternal hope of knowing where we are going, sad we are leaving loved ones but again knowing we will see them again. Praise God.
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Thanks for sharing, Anita. All true!
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This was a lovely tribute to a wonderful lady. She sounds a bit like my Granny Carson.
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☺ That generation can teach us so much!
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