Home at last

Home at Last
Each of us comes here with a purpose and a destiny. We may never fulfill our purpose in this life, but each of us will fill our destiny. Some of us may fill it earlier than others.

We buried my cousin on Thursday. She had lived a life of 77 years. She had been a Christian practically all her life. She had been the pianist in my hometown church and also had a beautiful voice that she used for the Lord. She didn’t get married until later in life, but I think God had her life all planned out. She never veered from serving him, and one day, God called her to be a minister’s wife. She fulfilled those duties wholeheartedly. She truly enjoyed being in the ministry, serving as her husband’s helpmate in the ministry, and also as a pianist and singer.

At her service, you could tell she was deeply loved and appreciated. So many spoke of her love for the Lord, her love of her husband, and of the church. They talked about how she stepped in to help in any way she was needed. Many people, from churches in which her husband had previously been pastor, came to pay tribute to her.

Although she knew one day her life would come to an end here on earth, she used each minute of her life to follow in the steps that God had planned. I remember when I was young how she went to church when her parents never went. I think she led them both to the church and to the Lord by her obedience in the ministry God chose for her.

She fought the disease of the mind, Alzheimer’s, a long time. Both her Mom and Dad were afflicted with this terrible disease. Her Dad died first and her Mom followed three years later. She once told my mother that she was fighting with all her might not to give in – that was several years ago. I had last seen her about a year ago at another cousin’s funeral. She still knew me but didn’t know this cousin’s two sons and I had to show them to her and go with her to speak with them. As she progressed, I know she realized what was happening and it must have been a frightful trip for her to make, realizing she was following down the path after her Mom and Dad.

The disease may have taken away most of her ability to live life to the fullest, but it did not take away her ministry. Someone told me just the day after her death that she had visited this man’s family restaurant about two months ago. Although she didn’t know anyone, or seem to know what was going on, she got up and played the piano! The disease works on people differently. But, I believe God had a purpose in her life that she filled until she was no longer able to move those fingers or perhaps even get out of bed.

As we grow older, we realize that our time is growing nearer. If I could be half the person she was in fulfilling my purpose in this life, I would be happy. I know she will hear ‘well done, thy good and faithful servant’.

One song sang yesterday at the service was It Is Well With My Soul. And there is no doubt in my mind that it definitely was. She used to sing a song that said, “If I could help somebody along the way, then my living would not be in vain”. From the testimonies of those who knew her, she definitely did not live life in vain! She touched so many lives through her ministry that she knew of and perhaps many more that she will only learn of in Heaven.

Technorati Tags: Home, Life, Destiny, Ministry