She Was the Sermon

Over the last several months I have attended 2 funerals. I shared about the last one in my post "Howard and the Dragon Fly" The sad thing is that these two funerals involve the same family. Howard was the husband of the oldest niece of Joan, a 90 year old who passed away the end of July.

I don't plan on writing about every funeral I go to, but when they inspire me I just can't help but write about it.

The pastor spoke about a journal that had belonged to Joan. This journal had been the one that she had used during the month or so that she had been told that the cancer had spread and there was nothing they could do for her. The pastor shared how in her journal she wrote about what Proverbs she was reading that day and she would high light the ones that had really spoken to her and she would also read several Psalms during the same thing. In the whole journal there was no talk of bring hopeless in her circumstances. A situation that could easily cause anyone to be overwhelmed with sadness and hopelessness.

On the front page of the journal it has this quote:

"Talk softly and carry a big stick" 

A quote often attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, but she had her own version that she wrote below it:

"Speak softly and carry the Word of God." 

And from the many testimonies,that is exactly what she did! 

"Many Problems but the LORD will solve them all" was her paraphrase of Psalm 34:19. And the way she lived her life showed that she truly believed this. 

Her life truly was a sermon. 

Sometimes the most powerful sermons are the ones we see lived out in some one's life. That's why it's so important for us to live our lives close to Jesus so that He can come flowing out. We never know who may be watching.