Edna White Rick Gillespie-Mobley
Edna White 5
While the powers that be had decided that the World was to go to war in 1914, 63 days after the nations declared war on each other, on October 6th, God had decided to send a gift of hope into the world. That hope came through the birth of little Edna. Although the Scriptures tell us that the average of our days would be three score and 10 or four score if by reason of strength which comes out to 70 or 80 years.
Sister White received more years in which to be a blessing to others than most of us are going to receive. The scriptures teach us to number our days that we might gain a heart of wisdom. If we number her days, we find that God gave her just over 33, 820 days to carry out His plan for her life. That was all she needed to get the job done.
Death first appeared in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. It was a frightening concept to them and has been for most of humankind ever since. But even before Jesus Christ conquered death by rising from the dead, God saw death in a different light.
From God’s perspective, death could be rendered completely powerless depending on who was doing the dying. The word of God says in Psalms 116:15 "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." This means that late Thursday evening as the clocked approached midnight on May 17th, 2oo7 Edna White, brought joy in a special way to the heart of God.
What was it about her that moved the heart of God? What was it about her, that moved our hearts, when we discovered that she was now waiting for our arrival in heaven? What was it about her that causes us to celebrate this Morning?
She was more than a daughter, more than a wife, more than a mother, more than a relative, more than a good friend, and more than a strong independent Black woman who said what she meant and meant what she said.. Brothers and sisters I submit to you this day, that Edna White was a servant and a child of the Most High God and a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The actual date of Edna’s death is probably not written down in a record book that we can easily get our hands on, you see the date on the obituary refers to the date her body cease to function. The real Edna, the part that lives forever, died a long time ago, when she heard of the call of Jesus Christ upon her life. We do know she made a commitment to serve Christ through Glenville on February 14, 1971 when she became a member.
For she once again heard the call of Jesus saying, Jesus said, , "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a person if he or she gains the whole world, yet forfeits his or her soul? Or what can a person give in exchange for his or her soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he or she has done.
Often times, when you look back over a person’s life you can see a theme of one of the principles of God’s word running through it. When I think of Sister White, the dominant verse which comes up again and again comes from Jesus when he said, “Greater love has no one than this, but that he lay down his life for his friend.”
Sister White lived a life which said, “it’s not all about me, but rather about helping someone else to make it through life’s journey.” One thread that wove its way through her life was her spirit of giving and generosity. She did not always have much, but she always had a big heart ready to share what she had. She blessed so many people, that she has left a trail of people claiming that he or she was obviously her favorite.
How does a person go about denying himself or herself to follow Jesus? It begins with the realization that there is more to life than what we can see around us. We were created to follow God’s purposes and not our own. It continues with the understanding that everyday, all of us are making choices for our lives that affect us and others. Not only are choices being made, the word of God tells us that a record is being kept of every decision that we make, and that one day we will give an account to God for those decisions.
The word of God tells us, you only get one shot at life, so do your very best with it, but that God is going to hold you accountable for the way you live it. If you were to die today, would you be ready to give God an account for the decisions you have made, and would you know with a certainty that you would spend eternity in heaven with God? If the answer is not yes, then perhaps your life is being lived in vain.
The good news about Sister Edna White is that her living has not been in vain. God gives each of us an assignment to work with in this world. We cannot let the outward circumstances of our lives hinder us in fulfilling the task that is before us. Sister White multiplied what little had come into her life.
Raffia said they were poor growing up, but they didn’t know it, because she saw to it that they always had what they needed. Her mother with her little, didn’t let it keep her from looking out for others. When she, Delores, and Raffia to the circus, to save money Sister White would make bologna sandwiches and popcorn for them at home and take it with them into the circus. But she knew there would be other kids there without food, and so she made extra sandwiches to be a blessing to those who were without.
Being poor was never an excuse for not having a generous heart. Jaunita and her brother, living in the projects, looked forward to Christmas morning and often arrived at Ms. White’s house before daybreak on Christmas morning, knowing that she would have some candy ready for them as a gift. It’s not how much we have that determines the amount of love we want to show. It’s being willing to give of what we have that we bless others. Sister White loved to bring joy into the life of others.
When we asked her family members for some one word descriptions of Sister White some of the words were humorous, loving, stern, outspoken, independent, opinionated, hard worker, quiet, soft-spoken, and wise. It sounds as though she truly was a woman who meant what she said and said what she meant. There were times when she take a stand, and that’s where she stood. But she also had the ability to admit she was wrong and offer an apology though sometimes she had to be encouraged to do so. Aunt Orr was faithful in helping her to sometimes see a need to apologize.
She was a woman with a number of witty by wise sayings. If you didn’t want her advice, she say, “well just keep on livingl” or “wait till you get my age.” She believed in finishing what you started. She’d say, “you never fail until you stop trying.” Joseph shared how excited he was about his photographs, when he started in photography. Unfortunately, others did not have his keen eye for appreciation of his works and had the audacity to criticize it. His grandmother saw him looking all sad and down, and she told him “if you’re going to do the work, you’ve got to take the criticism.” With those words she walked on out the room.
Sister White’s philosophy on worrying was simple. If it’s something you can do something about, then do it. So why worry. If it’s something you can’t do anything about, give it to God, So why worry.
Do you know how grandmothers, let you do all the things your parents would not let you do so that you can just be free and have fun. Well that’s not what Sister White believed a grandmother should be. Although the grandchildren called her “Mother Dear” they knew her as being strict on them like she was on their mom. But they also knew that she loved them and would do what she could to help them with their needs as well as some of their wants. Andrea remembers those special moments of going to the Forum Cafeteria to eat with here grandmother. That was where the rich poor folks went out to eat.
The Pride of Sister White’s life was her family. Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas Holidays, and special days were joyous times in the White and Billups household. They knew that what really matters is family loving family and loving others. It was because Sister White gave out her love, that she found so many others loving her. I’m not sure how you make 15 people claim to be your favorite, but I know it has something to do with a gift of making people feel special. Sister White had Jaunita Thomas believing she was one of the world’s great chef. If Sister White was served something that she did not like, all they had to say was, “Juanita made that” and immediately she changed mind and said, “ooh this show taste good.” She got so many laughs with Jaunita, I guess she did not want to say anything that might interfere with that relationship.
Sister White wanted to pass her faith on to her children. Raffia remembers those early morning Easter Sunrise services that they had to get up at 6 to attend. She’d fall asleep during the services, but she knew that her mother had a faith in God that meant a lot to her, and her mom wanted Raffia and Delores to claim that same faith. Andrea remembers going to prayer breakfasts with her grandmother. We thank God that we now have 3 generations of that faith that dwelt in Sister White, actively working today in the life of Glenville New Life Community Church. Without Sister White, we would not be the congregation we are today.
We thank God for Sister’s White’s ability to be genuinely concerned about others. When we say “how are you today?’ the other person could say “I got cancer and lost my job’ and many of us would say of that’s great. All because we were not really listening to the answer or truly asking with the question.
But Sister White really wanted to know how you were doing. She really cared about the health of those she loved. She cared at times more about their health, than she did her own. In her sickness as in life, she would say, “ I don’t want to anyone.” As she went through her illness, she did not do a lot of complaining about the way she was feeling. She was always a private person, with a heart of compassion waiting to be released.
Sister White has always been able to stand tall in the face of adversity, including personal pain. Yet she’d lay aside her own discomforts in order to try to be a servant to you. Here was a saint who never quit, and never gave up. She offered her very best until there was simply no strength left to offer.
Robert Frost wrote a poem that involved coming to a fork in the road, and choosing the path that was less traveled by. In looking back, he realized that choosing that path made all the difference in the world. Choosing to live for Jesus Christ made all the difference in the world for Edna White.
Did you know that according to Jesus, most people will not go to heaven? Jesus said, Mat 7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Entering into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way to enter that narrow gate.
All you have to do is to admit, "God, I have done a lot of things I should not have done. I realize I cannot pay for all that I have done. I ask you for forgiveness. I accept that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, He being holy and righteous, paid the penalty for my sin. I invite him to come into my life and take control of it."
You will make numerous decisions in your life between your birth and your death. But the only decision that will still be personally affecting you a 1000 years from today, is what did you do with Jesus Christ.
The Bible teaches there will certainly be a resurrection of everybody from the dead, and then comes the judgment of God.
Edna White is prepared for that Judgment. Like the Apostle Paul she can say, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
For those of us who die without Jesus Christ, Sister Edna White will only be a passing memory. For those of us who die in Christ, she’s waiting for us to join her in that great reunion that will certainly take place.
For the word of God teaches, 1 Th 4:13-18 Brothers & Sisters, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
