I went to the service of the woman in my last entry today. She passed away on the 2nd.

I've just written a letter to her daughter about how the service touched my life. Here are some pieces of it:

I just wanted to say that watching your posts about your mother, and the posts on CaringBridge, made this a very personal journey for me, even though I never met her and have only met you once. I have cried a lot of tears in between last week and the service today. But I wanted to tell you how encouraged I was at the service today as I heard about your mother's incredible faith, even unto the end of her days, and about the abundant grace of God in her life that overflows to you and your siblings. I have never been more grateful to God for His grace or more at peace with His sovereignty than I am after being at that service.

Your posts on Facebook and on CaringBridge alone were a great encouragement to me as I saw you reaching to the Lord for strength via songs and Bible verses, and taking such good care of your mother. Your brother Grant's speech also made a big difference to me. When he mentioned the 13,000--and now 17,000--views on your mom's blog, and when I looked around the room and saw how many lives your mom's life touched, the Lord gave me profound knowledge and peace that even in the most painful of circumstances, He is at work, and He is faithful.

There was no hesitancy on my part to go to the service, even though I don't really know you or your family, and I wondered to myself why God might desire me to be there. But as I sat and listened and wept, I saw many reasons why. I kept thinking of the possibility of this happening to me or someone close to me--because none of us are immune--and realizing that God may be preparing me to be there for others who may go through something similar, or He might be preparing me for my own journey, should anything like this ever happen to me or my loved ones. I know I am much more prepared now for such a situation than I have ever been before in my life.

I went on to share with Kristine that I was saying all this just in hopes that she would be comforted by the truth in Romans 8:28, that God works through all things for good. But this part of the e-mail sums up how it changed me.

"Oh, for grace to trust Him more."

It also inspired me to read the Bible more. In Rhonda's last days, under heavy medication and not at all herself, she was mumbling something, and as her husband leaned in to hear her, she was saying, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13) If I ever find myself in this situation, Bible verses are what I want to be found saying.

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