Last year on December 20th I was posting my thoughts about attending the funeral of Morris James. Today, I was blessed to be a part of the celebration for his sweet wife Mildred. I couldn't help but think driving this morning that it just wasn't a very pretty day for a funeral. Even though we know that there are so many reasons to be joyful when a faithful Christian dies, it still would be nice if they could have optimal circumstances for their passing: peacefully with no suffering, a pretty day and not during the holiday season. Yet, I was driving this morning I knew my dear friend Andrea also lost her mother last night and our friend Tim lost his mother this morning. So the reality is our homecoming with God will come in His time not ours and regardless how we feel, that timing is always perfect.

My heart hurt to know how difficult this last year of life has been for Mildred without her love of this life, Morris. But sitting in front of me were Orville Collins, Wanda Wood, Dorothy McFarland, and Nell Jackson who all know too well what it means to life life without your partner as well. Once again I was struck by an overwhelming sense of thankfulness for these precious senior saints who have lived a life of faith in front of me and have kept my feet and heart turned in the right direction. Mildred and all these others have shown me what it means to love God and let that love spill out in service of His people. John said that Mildred was a "bucket filler", she poured out into other's lives what had been poured into hers. I pray that more and more I will be a "bucket filler" as well.

Mildred had been a member of RE for over 50 years. I cannot even imagine!! Can you imagine being a part of a faith community that long? Your friends have children, who have children, who have children. Think of all the things that life brings that you have walked through together when you have been in fellowship for 50 years. Every time I go to a funeral of a senior saint I am just blessed. It is better than any sermon you could ever hear just to know that someone has won the race. But there are some that just win it in such a way that makes me want to love my God more and serve Him better. Mildred James was one of those. I am thankful for the way she embodied "living right, loving mercy and walking humbly with her God". Micah 6:8

John quoted a passage from Ruth 2:12 "May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge." It is our prayer for Mildred on this day. My prayer for myself is that I will run the race with the same kind of fervor and when my time comes to go home that I will have left footprints worth following.