Tuesday, January 20,2015. She asked me to share a message at her funeral. What follows is that message given on January 24, 2015
Message
for Mom’s funeral on Psalms 23
On
behalf of our family I want to thank each of you for taking the time to join
with us as we remember our Mom and celebrate her life. The past year has been one of challenges for
her as well as for all of us as we have seen Mom’s health change. Through it all she has been gracious in
accepting the limitations and never complaining about anything. Planning for her passing is never easy. When
we asked her what Scriptures she would like at her service, her reply was
Psalms 23. With this in mind I would like to share a few thoughts and relate
them to Mom’s life and her relationship with God.
The Lord is
my Shepherd, I shall not lack.
Mom
made Jesus the Shepherd of her life when she dedicated her life to Him and was
baptized when she was 9 years old. She
grew up in a godly home where faith was an integral part of her life. She had a solid faith in God to guide her throughout
life in the decisions she made. When she
was 8 years old she had Rheumatic fever and was very sick. Her illness kept her out of school and she
had to repeat 4th grade. But
during this time of illness she knew that she wanted to be a nurse. It was her
calling from the Lord to extend the compassionate care she received to others
who would be in similar situations. She
pursued her calling by receiving training to be a nurse in a program at
Presentation College during WWII. She
never regretted this decision and enjoyed her career as a nurse. God used her suffering as a young child to
point her in the direction he as the Good Shepherd wanted her to go and many
people were blessed by her decision. It
was while she was working as a nurse in Worthington that she met our dad,
Gunnar who was a patient in the hospital.
Again the Good Shepherd guided her to meet and marry dad, it was one of the
best decisions he ever made, and their marriage lasted 56 years. God’s providence and his provision have
always been with Mom. We were never a rich family but we always had what we
needed. Each of the 6 children were
helped by mom and dad to attend college and all were blessed with good jobs.
He makes me
lie down in green pastures
He leads me
beside the still and restful waters, he refreshes and restores my life.
When
I think of these verses I reflect on Mom’s desire for our lives to be peaceful
and our soul’s to be restored. She saw
the importance of knowing Jesus as our Lord and Shepherd who would restore our
souls. Attending church was important to
Mom because of what we would be taught about Jesus and how we should live our
lives. She often worked on Saturday nights, the night shift from 1130 p.m. to
730 a.m. and was not able to attend with us in the morning service. But she made sure that we were able to get to
the church. The church was mom’s place
to restore her soul. If she was not able
to attend in the morning she went to the evening service. I remember many times going with her. Mom
always had a peaceful disposition because her soul was at rest with the
Lord. She made reading her Bible and
prayer a regular part of her day. She
knew that her strength and refreshing came from her daily connection with the
Lord.
He leads me
in the path of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Mom
lived her faith. She sought to follow
the Lord in all that she did and lived to bring honor to him. Her life was one of integrity, what she
taught us was also how she lived. One of
her sayings that will be remembered by her children is, “Politeness is to do
and say the kindest thing in the kindest way.”
As far as we know, Mom did not have any
enemies. She treated people with
kindness and respect and instilled these values in us. She and dad taught us right from wrong and
all of us received physical reinforcement when we violated the standards. One
part of my anatomy had an intimate relationship with a board that said, “Give
Us This Day Our Daily Bread”. This board was used to remind me that bad decisions
have consequences. I am thankful for the love that mom and dad had for us that
caused them to discipline us when we were not living as we should. Doing what was right and pleasing to the Lord
were values that Mom upheld for each of her children.
Yes Though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are
with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Mom
worked the night shift which always had fewer staff at the hospital. She mentioned to me that she never felt
alone, that God was always with her.
There were times when she knew something evil was lurking, a sixth sense
God had given her to detect when she needed to pray and take action. She
carried a lot of responsibility as the Night Supervisor at the hospital and
relied on God’s presence to be with her and guide her decisions. She expressed
to me how thankful she was that God was with her each day and how blessed she
was to have known and experienced his presence in her life.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you
anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows”.
As a nurse mom cared for all kinds of people, regardless
of who they were or what they had done. A
shepherd used oil to sooth the wounds of the sheep to keep them from getting
infected. Mom’s anointing oil was the
care she gave to all hurting people.
When she was in nurses training she was given a prayer to recite before
she started work each day. I would like
to read it as it truly reflects her desire to be healing oil to others.
A nurses Prayer
Oh
my God I am about to begin my days work.
Teach
me to receive the sick in your Name.
Give my efforts success Sweet Jesus for the glory of your Name, without
You I cannot succeed.
Grant
that the sick you have placed in my care may be abundantly blessed and that not
one of them may suffer for anything that is lacking in me.
Enable
me to bring relief and comfort to the sick and do all in my power to help them
to a complete recovery.
Sacred
Heart of Jesus I place all my trust in you.
Amen.
Mom
cared for hundreds of people throughout her career as a nurse. Her cup of
compassion overflowed to help many people.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and
I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Mom experienced the goodness and mercy of God in
her life. Her children were an expression of God’s goodness to her. She wanted a big family, she told me, “I
wanted 12 kids but we stopped at 6”. She
told me she was proud of each one of her children and that she was very
thankful for their care for her during her last days. Her children gave her 12 grandchildren and 17
great grandchildren that brought her great joy.
Her family was her treasure and she made sure to
celebrate each one’s birthday. Holidays were always special times for mom and
she loved to host them at her home that she enjoyed. She passed on God’s goodness to her children,
her church, a variety of charities and Christian missions. Mom was a generous giver and God blessed her
richly.
In her
final days she often commented “God has been good to me. I have had a good life
and have no regrets”. Mom outlived all
of her siblings and all of dad’s family as well. 92 years was more years than she thought she
would ever live.
As her time on earth drew to a close, she looked
forward to being in heaven. I asked her
who she wanted to see first when she arrived. She replied, “God, Jesus and the
Holy Spirit and after that it did not matter.”
She knew her final destiny was a place of peace, where pain and sorrow
did not exist. She looked forward to
meeting people who had gone on before her.
Death was but a doorway to an eternal life with God. She looked forward to all of her family being
with her one day.
Mom has arrived in heaven and we are grateful to
God for the many years she was with us.
Those who like mom have given their lives to
Christ and received him as their Lord and Savior have the promise that they
will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
This is Mom’s desire for each one of you, that you will know the love of
God that was demonstrated to us through the gift of Christ and receive
forgiveness of sin that bars us from entry into heaven.
Today if you have not made this decision, there
is no better time. Our days are numbered
and some get more and others less but the grave awaits each one of us. The most important thing is not how long we
live but who we live for. Our most
important relationship is knowing God and his Son Jesus through whom we can
receive the gift of eternal life. If you have not made him Lord of your life I
encourage you to make that decision today.
The last time I saw Mom in person she said, “If I
don’t see you again, I will see you on the other side.”
I look forward to seeing Mom on the other side
and pray that you also will be one who will join her.
Thank you for your presence and prayers for us as
we mourn the loss and celebrate the life of a wonderful mother, grandmother and
friend. We find great comfort in knowing that she is celebrating her new life
in heaven. Today we buried her body but we not the memory of one who impacted
many lives. May her life continue to be an example to all of us of one whose
faith in God the Great Shepherd was lived out each day through her love and
compassion for others.
May God bless each one of you.
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