What will they say?

     Having celebrated another birthday, the older I, and maybe you, get, the more reflective we become.  Ever since my father passed away in 1992, funerals are something I'd rather avoid & did for a few years after his death. I recall speaking at his funeral but not what I said.  Some friends experienced the passing of a relative in the past year.  A few were not unexpected due to age & illness, but it doesn't make it any easier.  The other was the father of f Amanda's high school friend, Anna, who I treated much like a daughter.  He left behind a wife, a son, 2 daughters & their husbands, grandchildren & other family members.  Words are never enough at times like those & my heart grieves for them.

     I attended the funeral of Dick, age 88, who was a friend & attended church where I do, as do most of his family.  He had been a widow for 25 years, but often talked of his wife in his emails to his family. He had a great smile, a special wink, & kept butterscotch candy in his pockets.  Often you could hear him unwrap them in church a few rows back.  I enjoyed, yet cried, at the testimonies of his children & grand-children.
     It made me give thought to my own funeral & what would be said.  I hope there is laughter among the tears.  I hope that it might be said, "She was kind, generous & compassionate."  One of my daughters might say with a grin: "although she was a compulsive-A personality which could be annoying, she kept things organized.  If you needed something, she knew where it was."  But most of all, I hope it is said, "She was far from perfect, but you knew she loved the Lord & wanted others to know Him as she did.  Her deepest desire & prayers often focused on raising her grand-children in the Love & Knowledge of the Lord."  If that's all that was said it would be enough.   I have no idea when that day will be, so until then I need to MUST be living out the things I believe.  Some days it's harder if I let a bad attitude or pity party, for whatever reason, creep in.  Most days it's a  JOY because the Lord has been gracious & merciful to me & my family.

An epithet with an added ending:
Pause, stranger, when you pass me by,
For as you are, so once was I.
As I am now, so will you be.
Then prepare unto death, and follow me.
(Pushing the grass aside a bit more, he found the following scratched on the stone, done with a crude instrument: To follow you I'm not content until I know which way you went!)

Matthew 5:16  Jesus said, "... let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
 John 14:1-3  Jesus said "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am."
image: ehow.com