An Inspiration

Since I wanted to journal more things that are happening in my life, I found it important to make a post related to the funeral service I attended at the end of last week. On Thursday, February 28, 2008 we had to say our last goodbyes to Liz’s grandmother Marie Mehall. She died at the age of 75 and will be greatly missed by everyone who ever knew her.

I only knew her for the last 2-3 years of her life, but I can say that she impacted my life in a positive way. In part, she impacted me merely by being energetic and fun to be around, but mostly, I was inspired by her faith. This really struck me when we were at her viewing and I noticed a small sense of joy in the air. People were sad because she will be missed, but for many in the room, we were happy to know she is with our Lord. I realized that this was the first funeral I have attended where there was certainty of her faith in Christ. It was a good feeling to be at a service and have confidence that the deceased had nothing to fear in death. I was also interested to see the way that other Christians reacted to her death compared to those that weren’t Christians. Those that didn’t know the Lord were much more upset than those that did.

I want to tell a quick story about the first time I met Marie (or as I came to call her, Gram), and why she was an inspiration to me. The first time we met was out to lunch with Liz, Liz’s mom, and I. We had a nice lunch at she was very pleasant to spend time with. After lunch, we were riding in a car together and stopped to pick something up. Liz and her mom went inside leaving Gram and me alone. She wasted no time and started asking me about my faith. Perhaps she was testing me to see if I was a good fit for her granddaughter, or maybe she just wanted to talk about Christ with everyone she encountered. I gave here a brief history of the way I grew up in the Catholic Church, how I was saved, and groups and churches I was involved with at the time. She was really happy to hear me share my testimony, and I asked her about hers. I was surprised to hear a story somewhat similar to my own in up-bringing and the dramatic change from the Catholic Church to Christianity. She was a bit older than me when it happened which made the change even more dramatic. She had attended church for most of her life and never really got it. Then one day, she decided to start reading the bible to see God was all about. She kept reading, and God started to change her. Of course she began to develop many questions and decided to seek the wisdom of her priest. I’m not overly surprised by this, but you might be, the priest told her that the readings in the bible were not for her to understand (since she didn’t attend seminary) and kindly instructed her to stop reading the bible on her own. He was likely worried that she would find the truth and uncover the lies he had been throwing out from his pulpit over the years. This of course did not sit well with her, and she started to seek other congregations to worship with. She bounced around for a while and eventually found a home with the Presbyterian Church.

Why was she an inspiration? Because she was bold enough to find out that the people around her were not speaking truth, and sought it out on her own. As you can imagine, she faced some persecution for this, but didn’t care because God had changed her and set her on a mission. In time, she learned more about the gospel and started sharing it with her friends and family. It took a number of years, but eventually God used her to save many of her family members and friends. I am inspired by Gram because she relentlessly shared the truth with those around her because she was concerned about the glory of God and the eternal destination of those she cared about. I am in a similar situation with my extended family. Many of them are Catholic and don’t truly understand the Gospel. I hope I can learn from Gram’s example and share the truth with those around me that I care about. I want there to be a sense of joy in my death because those morning the loss are confident in my faith and know the Lord themselves. It was a pleasure to know Gram. She will be missed, and certainly not forgotten.

Thanks for reading.