Saints in My Life

 

Powerofhumility.org

 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

This past Sunday was All Saints Day. It is a day set aside to remember and honor those believers who have gone on before us. My best friend lost her older sister in May of 2014. That November, she was invited to her sister’s church for a special service honoring those who had gone on to heaven in the previous twelve months.  She said the service gave her closure.

 

In 2019, our church received a new pastor who chose to observe All Saints Day. This was the first time for several of us to have a service like it. One of the blogs I subscribe to suggested we write about this observance and possibly write about those saints in our lives.

 

When I was a young adult, I met, Crystal, a wonderful Christian lady who loved the LORD. Her health was not always the best. Her children went their own way, her grandchildren eventually did the same. She loved them anyway. She stood by them when they messed up. She loved me when I had some issues. As I was told, she was in church one Sunday. When she and her husband left the church, she told him she had to go to the hospital. It was at the hospital that Jesus came and took her home.  Her son and his wife returned to the LORD. This daughter-in-law passed on. Her son’s second wife was active in the same church with him. I know Crystal watched from heaven as her children returned to Him.

 

As I grew in the LORD, I started attending a church about a half-mile from our home. There I met Evelyn, the organist, who lent me a book by William Murray, son of Madelyn Murray O’Hare. (My Life Without God). It made we wonder why someone who looked so saintly would own such a book. She told me about herself, how she had to raise her daughter alone. She had to end her marriage. Her daughter was quite young at the time. She had to be both mother and father to that daughter. She never told her in-laws about things that occurred. Each Saturday, she called him to see how he was doing. When she received word that her ex-husband had died, she and her daughter drove back to their original hometown, two states away, to attend his funeral.

 

When we started attending our present church (pre-merger), we met Barbara who was a caregiver for her middle-aged adult son, Greg. He was the victim of a terrible wreck when he was a teenager. While Greg was in the hospital, her younger son, age 12, was hit by a car and died. Greg went to college. Had a good job. He married; he and his wife had a son. They went through a divorce. After this, Barbara cared for him in her home. (I am uncertain how many years she cared for him.) A few years ago Greg had to go to a nursing home. In time, this lady went to the same facility.

 

I found out about a month ago that her husband had a difficult time with diabetes. He lost a leg and was hospitalized for a lengthy time. He later had indications that the diabetes was going to cause him to lose his other leg. She cared for him at home. The whole time I was in fellowship with her, she never complained about what she had to do.

I have learned a lot about these dear women. I learned they loved the LORD, and they did not complain about the paths they had to take during their earthly lives. Without realizing it, I have learned not to complain about wherever God leads me.