Eulogy Joyce Moore

Eulogy For Joyce Moore by Rick Gillespie- Mobley

Proverbs 31 Psalms 139:13-139:16 Joyce Moore

At the start of July in 1940, Adolf Hitler was planning to begin the campaign to bomb Great Britain into submission so that he and Nazi Germany could firmly establish the Third Reich which was suppose to last a 1,000 years. Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic, in Louisville Kentucky, Adeline and William were expecting the arrival of a baby. In six days, a beautiful little black girl by the name of Joyce was born. Guess which one lasted longer, the Third Reich or Joyce.

God had one purpose in mind for the Third Reich, which was its ultimate destruction, but God had something else in mind for this little black girl born in Kentucky, whose ancestors had been slaves. When God looked at Joyce, I believe God gave to her the same promise that He gave to his people in the book of Jeremiah, when the prophet said, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

In Proverbs 31, we read of a remarkable woman who knew how to handle business in all walks of life. This is not a passage of Scripture that I often use at funerals, but as I read it the other day, I thought here is a description of Joyce’ life right here in the bible. A committed, hardworking, industrious, strategic thinking woman who put the needs of her family and others ahead of her own.

One of the things that made Joyce incredibly special was the enormous amount of support and encouragement that she gave to those around her. She stood as a magnificent oak tree in full bloom with its spreading branches, and many who were in distress from the storms of life found support under the shelter of her mighty outspread branches. There was a sense of safety and stability as you clung close to the trunk of this magnificent tree. She was an incredible woman.

But nothing that happened to Joyce surprised God because God was active in Joyce, long before Joyce became active in God. For the Scripture tells us in Psalm 139:13-16

[13] For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. [14] I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. [15] My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, [16] your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

God knew that Joyce was going to be special from the moment she entered the world on July 6, 1940 because He intended for her to be special. But God also knew that He had ordained a specific number of days for her to live, and that He fully expected her to return to Him.

We on the other hand, simply take it for granted way to often, that we will always have each other around, and we fail to appreciate the incredible special people that God places in our lives. We even make the mistake of thinking that we ourselves have an indefinite number of days ahead of us that we can control and determine. But I can tell you with certainty, unless Jesus comes first, we shall all surely die and it will be in times and methods not of our own choosing.

God blessed Joyce with a nurturing heart very early in life. Joyce was born into what we would call poverty in terms of material possessions, but she was always rich in things that truly mattered such as love, family and a knowledge of God.

She was thrust into the role of motherhood far sooner than most in that she had to help care for a family of 10 with all her brothers and sisters. She learned early what it was to be in charge and how to set a budget for various areas of life. Joyce’s Mom, recognized this talent in Joyce on how to make the money work. She put Joyce in charge of budgeting the family income.

We are shaped by the times in which we are born, and the roles we are called to fill. One day the weather was really bad outside, and Joyce’s mother was thinking the weather was too bad for her to go to work. Joyce looked at her mom and thought about the budget. She then quickly went and got her mother’s coat and let her mom know that she was confident her mother would be able to make it to work as she pushed her out the door.