It's Personal

A dear woman whom I grew up with passed away this week. Over the past ten years she had pretty much been homebound due to dementia from several strokes. The last time I visited her she had very little ability to recognize me. She called me "little girl", which was probably the way her brain remembered me. I also will more clearly remember her from when I was younger . She was AMAZING. Plain and simple. She mentored us kids for no other reason than it needed to be done. She taught youth Sunday school when her kids were grown and gone. She stepped into the gap for us many times when youth leaders left- which happened four times in my teen year. She had us over to her house just because she thought we might enjoy it. She found odd jobs for us when she saw we might need spending money or youth funds. She taught my then boyfriend (now husband of 15 years) and I the Mizpah prayer: Genesis 31:49 It was also called Mizpah, because he said, May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. So we could always say it when we parted. Like I said she was amazing. From her I learned what hospitality looked like and part of how the church was supposed to work.

A friend of mine said this weekend "God takes it personally when you do good for His church and he takes it personally when you do ill to His church." (http://www.joemckeever.com/mt/archives/001590.html check out his blog because he is pretty amazing too).
This is the first time in my life I know deep in my bones that someone got a very Personal welcome into Heaven this week. I actually felt a wave of joy come over me as I thought about it. Say hi to Jesus for me, Mrs. L, I love you both.