Things I'm Thankful For

Funeral Mama’s - Things I’m Grateful For

I have to admit, this funeral is a little more difficult than many I have done. And I’m not talking about it being difficult because of the emotions that are involved, rather I’m talking about it being difficult because I couldn’t decide what to say.

When you’ve been a pastor for a while, there are scripture passages that come to mind when you think about loss, when you think about funerals, but on this occasion none of them seemed to fit. I know this is a church and I am a pastor, but I just couldn’t get my mind wrapped around a particular scripture this time, so what I’d like to do instead is share some things I’m thankful for.

1. I’m thankful for ya’ll being here.

First, I’m thankful for ya’ll being here. A number of years ago I was doing a ride along with a deputy in what was then district 4, in Seminole County. I was shooting the bull with one of the sergeants there, and he said that he had already told his wife that when he died he wanted his funeral to be small with just immediate family there. I told him that sure was selfish. He said, “What do you mean?”

I said, “The funeral is not for you. It is for the people you are leaving behind. Guests are telling them, ‘Yes, your loved one impacted my life as well. Yes, I’m going to miss him too.’”

I know some of you have put off returning home. Some of you have driven a long way just to come say, “We loved your mom too, or to say, I really didn’t know your Mom, but we love you, and want you to know that we are here for you.”

So I, and our family would like to say thank you to all of you who are here today, to all of you who have called or written, just to let us know that you love us or that you loved our mother. I’m thankful for friends.

The Bible says “there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. That is great because I don’t want my brothers sticking too close, so I’m thankful for ya’ll.

2. I’m thankful for being reared in a Christian home.

Both of our parents knew the importance of a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Again we are told, The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

That stuff is real! Jesus didn’t come and die for no reason. He came and died because we need a Savior. We needed someone to pay a price that we could never pay so that we could spend eternity with our heavenly Father.

Again, both of our parents knew the importance of a relationship with Jesus Christ, and they instilled in each of us a love for the Lord as well.

From the earliest times I can remember, our parents always had us in church. My word, we were there Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. The only time we got to see the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday night was if we were on vacation, or home sick.

If the church we were attending at the time didn’t have a youth group, or a children’s ministry, my parents would jump in there and start one.

Some of my earliest memories are of my mom in Palatka, loading us and a bunch of teenagers up in their Volkswagon Station Wagon, and us delivering Krispy Kreme donuts the youth were selling as a fund raiser, or of us going with a bunch of youth to the skating rink.

One of the first outings we had on the property where we grew up, was our folks bringing youth from the church we were attending at the time, out to our property for a camp out.

I remember one time we had taken a truck from the Lumber Yard, and had picked up several loads of chicken manure from the farm down the road, and had dumped it on our place to help get grass to grow in that sand. Then we cleaned out the truck, filled it with hay, and had a hayride for the youth from Orange City.

When we got to our house, the youth started unloading and one yankee city boy got out of the truck and said, “Smell that country air.” I said, “Country air? That isn’t country air, that’s chicken manure.

Daddy always said the Lord gave us that property for ministry and one of the churches I pastor continues to minister on that property today.