Ashes to ashes ... Dust to dust. One more blog

Merry Christmas to you all.  Today marked a significant milestone in Christine’s journey.  Karl & Gretchen, Paul and Catie, and Todd gathered by the Clark Fork River in Missoula, Montana to commit Christine’s ashes to the deep.

   

It was a beautiful, crisp and slightly overcast day.  Karl began with a song and prayer; Catie and Gretchen read scripture; Todd commended her remains to the Lord; we prayed the Lord’s pray and Paul provided the blessing and closing prayer.  Simple, family, spiritual.  Just as Christine would have wanted it.

We post this now because so many of you have played a significant role in her life - or have been moved and touched by her life.  If you followed her story at all, you know that she was passionate about her faith and concerned about communicating the Love of God to many.

If you watched her memorial service you will remember that it all pointed to Jesus.  

“Where, O death, is your victory?

    Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:55-57

So Merry Christmas from Christine.  This was her favorite time of year.  She would desire that every one of you spend some time reflecting on the goodness of the babe in Bethlehem who came to this earth to live and die for you.

Christmas is a great time of family, food, presents, laughter and traditions.  But during the busyness of it all, don’t forget the reason for all the activities.  We don’t celebrate the traditions, but the One who started it all - who we have been celebrating for over 2,000 years.  She would hope and pray that you would take a few minutes out of the hustle and bustle of life to attend church and celebrate Jesus.  

During advent, we not only remember and prepare for His birth ... but we think and ponder about His second coming.  So come Lord Jesus, come.  And none of us would be disappointed if you returned today.

Merry Christmas to you all and blessings on your Silent Night.

Thanks for Checkin in

on behalf of Christine ...

———

Silent night, holy night

All is calm, all is bright

Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child

Holy infant so tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace

Christ, the Savior is born!

Memorial Services Details

Christine asked you to attend - I hope you can!  Note, if you are from out of town, please join us online!  Note, online information might change - so please double check the blog before the service.

Last night, our good and gracious Lord, called Christine out of this life of sin, struggle, disease, and death and brought her home to Himself. Our Lord’s promise from Revelation 21:4 is now Christine’s reality.

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

I wanted to personally let you know of the plans for Christine’s memorial service.

Thursday, November 8, 2018 at 4:00pm (PST)

St. John’s Lutheran Church

154 South Shaffer St.

Orange, CA 92866

If you are unable to attend in person, I certainly understand. The service will be available to watch via St. John’s live stream at www.stjohnsorange.org/livestream.

The service will be led by the Orange Lutheran Creative Worship students.  The public is invited.  Christine loved her Lord and the ministry at Orange Lutheran.  She was passionate about raising support for students that otherwise could not attend our school.  Her wish was that in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts are directed to the Lancer Legacy Endowment Fund.  Gifts can be made at www.lhsoc.org/giving or mailed directly to the school.

Thanks for checkin' in
Todd

Heaven IS my home – my last blog

It is finished (John 19:30).  My work is done (Psalm 39:4-5).  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now I have the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, has awarded me —and not only to me, but also award to all of you who long for his appearing (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

Todd will forward Memorial service details when he has them.  I hope you can attend or watch on live stream.  Not because I want any glory … but because I want you to hear again the wonderful message of Christ and Him crucified for you.  I was blessed to be a part of the planning for the service.  It will be an awesome contemporary worship of praise led by some dear friends.   It will include the Orange Lutheran Creative Worship team – the last group I was able to worship with in person while I was alive.  Pastor Mike Hayes, who gave me Christ’s body and blood for the last time on earth, will bring the Word.

It may be strange to be reading my final blog, especially when I am "asleep in death".  I did this at the encouraging of many, especially Todd.  We felt it was important for me to speak a final Word.  To just leave and go onto heaven without one last encouragement did not seem right.

Brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed about me who has fallen asleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.  For I believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so I believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. According to the Lord’s word, I tell you, that you who are still alive, who are left until 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 (including me). After that, you 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, I encourage you with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

This now is about legacy...

What legacy do you want to leave to your family, your friends, your kids?  How about to the world? 

I had the joy of reading what y’all have thought of me. Many, many of you commented on Facebook and my blog.  Frankly, I am shocked.... most of you have brought back memories that are long forgotten. I am so grateful because I would never have remembered them.  What kind of memories do you want to leave with your family? What patterns of speech do you want them to remember?  What experiences do you want them to cherish for a lifetime?  A couple of times we had young teachers living with us and they remembered me up early in the morning reading my scriptures.  That is a nice memory.

Several people remembered my smile. I don’t even remember delivering smiles. But I’m so glad somebody did!  Some mentioned acts of service, some reaching out when in need (and even one remembering how I taught them to clean J), others how I welcomed them to the neighborhood or to a Bible study.

What kind of a legacy do you want to leave for the kingdom? 

Many of you would write asking a specific question looking for an answer.  I would often reply “what does God say about that”? That question comes from a friend of mine who taught me to ask it!  Seeking the answer changed my life.

What Legacy are you leaving?

I am certainly sad about not being with you.  I would like to be “here” as I would like to tell more people about Jesus. But it is far better to be with Christ (Philippians 1:23).

Would you do that for me – tell more people about Jesus? What an amazing legacy that would be. I’m sure you’ll care for my family.  Thank you.   But I’d rather have you care for the “least of these” (Matthew 25:31-46).

Some of you reading this have not received Christ into your heart / your life.  Please come to my memorial service to really hear, maybe for the first time, the good news of Jesus Christ.  He loves you.  We have all messed up and fallen short of His expectations (Romans 3:23).  But God Himself loved YOU so much (John 3:16-17) that came to this earth to sacrifice Himself for YOU (Romans 5:8).  We can’t possibly do enough to earn God’s forgiveness – but He did it all for YOU (Ephesians 1:7).  Tell Him you messed up (1 John 1:8).  Tell Him you are sorry (1 John 1:9).  Then ask Him into your heart (Romans 10:9-13) and just watch what He will do!

I hope and pray to see you all soon – in the blink of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52).

Thanks for checkin’ in.  I love you all!

Christine