Unforgettable
There are some people that enter your life and impact it in such a way that you know you'd be a different person if it weren't for their influence. They live their lives with such kindness and selflessness that their goodness simply overflows into every area and impacts all those they encounter. It's effortless and beautiful to know them and learn from them. These are the people that can only be described as unforgettable.
Mrs. Janet Randall was just such a person in my life and in many others lives. She was the definition of "light in darkness". She carried hope, peace, and love as if these were simply a shawl draped lightly on her shoulders by the lover of her soul. For a woman who had every right to live as if burdens overwhelmed her, she always seemed light as a feather. Life was an adventure for her, and she relished every moment with an undeniable joy. She accepted the love of her Savior with no conditions and gave it just as freely.
Three weeks ago, her spirit was reunited with the one she'd dedicated her life serving. I can only begin to imagine the joy alive in her spirit as she left this earth and entered the eternal presence of God. Goodness. How sweet. 10+ years ago Mrs. Randall was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and wasn't given very long to live. Well, as you probably can assume she defied the odds (and then some) by living - abundantly I might add - for the next 10 years. It wasn't easy and she had many struggles as she and her husband attempting different treatments through the years. But even in the last month of her life when we went to visit her she had hope in her every breath. She told my mother, "Don't be upset. We know where we're going. We're going home." She knew where she was going. She'd always known. That's how she lived life with such beauty. That's why she impacted so many lives. She knew her identity as a daughter, friend, and lover of the Most High. The pastor at her memorial (which was the most joyful and hopeful memorial service I've ever attended) said it best when he said "You cannot replace a Janet Randall, but you can choose to resemble her and the life she lived." And that's exactly what I want to do. I want to take the lessons I learned from watching her praise Jesus in her every moment and live life as she did.
You see, Mrs. Randall's daily desire was to resemble Jesus. So, when the pastor encouraged us to resemble the life she led he in turn was directing us straight into the arms of our savior and onto the path of His purpose. Even at her memorial, we were not exalting a human and their kind nature or good deeds but instead exalting the God who provided all those characteristics we so dearly loved about Mrs. Randall. She allowed God to mold and shape her and became more like Jesus everyday here on Earth, in turn encouraging others to fall in love with Him as well. I know her heart would rejoice in knowing her life, simple as it was, will continue to draw people to Jesus, even after her journey home. Though she will be missed, she will never be forgotten.
Mrs. Janet Randall was just such a person in my life and in many others lives. She was the definition of "light in darkness". She carried hope, peace, and love as if these were simply a shawl draped lightly on her shoulders by the lover of her soul. For a woman who had every right to live as if burdens overwhelmed her, she always seemed light as a feather. Life was an adventure for her, and she relished every moment with an undeniable joy. She accepted the love of her Savior with no conditions and gave it just as freely.
Three weeks ago, her spirit was reunited with the one she'd dedicated her life serving. I can only begin to imagine the joy alive in her spirit as she left this earth and entered the eternal presence of God. Goodness. How sweet. 10+ years ago Mrs. Randall was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and wasn't given very long to live. Well, as you probably can assume she defied the odds (and then some) by living - abundantly I might add - for the next 10 years. It wasn't easy and she had many struggles as she and her husband attempting different treatments through the years. But even in the last month of her life when we went to visit her she had hope in her every breath. She told my mother, "Don't be upset. We know where we're going. We're going home." She knew where she was going. She'd always known. That's how she lived life with such beauty. That's why she impacted so many lives. She knew her identity as a daughter, friend, and lover of the Most High. The pastor at her memorial (which was the most joyful and hopeful memorial service I've ever attended) said it best when he said "You cannot replace a Janet Randall, but you can choose to resemble her and the life she lived." And that's exactly what I want to do. I want to take the lessons I learned from watching her praise Jesus in her every moment and live life as she did.
You see, Mrs. Randall's daily desire was to resemble Jesus. So, when the pastor encouraged us to resemble the life she led he in turn was directing us straight into the arms of our savior and onto the path of His purpose. Even at her memorial, we were not exalting a human and their kind nature or good deeds but instead exalting the God who provided all those characteristics we so dearly loved about Mrs. Randall. She allowed God to mold and shape her and became more like Jesus everyday here on Earth, in turn encouraging others to fall in love with Him as well. I know her heart would rejoice in knowing her life, simple as it was, will continue to draw people to Jesus, even after her journey home. Though she will be missed, she will never be forgotten.
1 Corinthians 15:54-55
"When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh Death, where is your victory? Oh Death, where is your sting?"
Philippians 2:1-16.
"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing."
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