Too many times I have words I desire to speak and write and I wait too long, the moment passes, and life moves on. Never again. Life is too short to not say the good things you know you ought to say, even if you're not sure people are listening.
Twenty years ago my dear Aunt Carole took me out for pizza and a conversation I'll never forget--and I'm eternally grateful. I can't say that she led me to Christ right then and there, but she definitely put some bread crumbs down for me to make my way out of the thick, dark, woods of my life. A few months later, after I had asked Christ into my life, God answered a prayer through her by bringing a most precious gift to me, my first Bible. I had not asked her, but I had asked God, and Carole had so lovingly picked out the most beautiful pink leather Bible with my name engraved on the front. She told me how to pray each time I sat down to read it, and soon I was spending entire days in my pajamas devouring everything I could from that book.
Although Carole had always been my aunt, and going to her house as a kid in the summer was always an extra special treat, it was our relationship as Christian sisters that developed in my adulthood that I will cherish always. When I stayed with her in Denver, we could be saying goodnight to one another and end up talking about Jesus until midnight. And when she wasn't talking about Jesus, she was making me laugh until I thought I'd pee my pants. Oh how I'm going to miss hearing that laugh and seeing her smile at me like I was one of her own.
My sweet aunt went to Heaven two weeks ago. We buried her on a snowy morning, each of us placing a red carnation on her casket. As I laid that flower down, I thanked God for letting me have Aunt Carole in my life. I want to gather up everything both amazing and plain about her, like a bouquet of flowers, and keep it in a snapshot I can look at. She was both bossy and humble; she was a great force with an amazing gentleness. With a multitude of friends, she made each one of them feel very special and loved. As my Uncle Ben said, she had a lot of favorites. Carole was very human and real, but she was also a life completely transformed by Christ.
Twenty years ago my dear Aunt Carole took me out for pizza and a conversation I'll never forget--and I'm eternally grateful. I can't say that she led me to Christ right then and there, but she definitely put some bread crumbs down for me to make my way out of the thick, dark, woods of my life. A few months later, after I had asked Christ into my life, God answered a prayer through her by bringing a most precious gift to me, my first Bible. I had not asked her, but I had asked God, and Carole had so lovingly picked out the most beautiful pink leather Bible with my name engraved on the front. She told me how to pray each time I sat down to read it, and soon I was spending entire days in my pajamas devouring everything I could from that book.
Although Carole had always been my aunt, and going to her house as a kid in the summer was always an extra special treat, it was our relationship as Christian sisters that developed in my adulthood that I will cherish always. When I stayed with her in Denver, we could be saying goodnight to one another and end up talking about Jesus until midnight. And when she wasn't talking about Jesus, she was making me laugh until I thought I'd pee my pants. Oh how I'm going to miss hearing that laugh and seeing her smile at me like I was one of her own.
My sweet aunt went to Heaven two weeks ago. We buried her on a snowy morning, each of us placing a red carnation on her casket. As I laid that flower down, I thanked God for letting me have Aunt Carole in my life. I want to gather up everything both amazing and plain about her, like a bouquet of flowers, and keep it in a snapshot I can look at. She was both bossy and humble; she was a great force with an amazing gentleness. With a multitude of friends, she made each one of them feel very special and loved. As my Uncle Ben said, she had a lot of favorites. Carole was very human and real, but she was also a life completely transformed by Christ.
