To those of you who are in my family and knew Aunt Mary, none of what I am about to say will come as a shock to you. To those of you who are reading this who have no idea who Mary Howell was, please keep reading because her life was a testimony to Jesus Christ and through here example, there should be no doubt to any who read this who Aunt Mary's Lord and Savior was...
For as long as I can remember the sight of that little green mobile home brought joy into my heart. At one point there was a small car that would be parked in front if Aunt Mary where home although the years had taken that ability from her. When I think of Aunt Mary, I think of someone who modeled the kind of life that Jesus asked us all to live. One not for herself, but for others. She used to go by and pick up my Grandma Annie Sue, who couldn't drive due to a medical condition, and they would make their rounds. For as long as I have been alive she was a constant in my life, always at church, happy to be there, even when I was a hard-headed kid who was only there because I had to be.
Aunt Mary, I rejoice today, not because you are no longer here with us, for that I am sorrowful, but because there is no doubt in my heart, that you, Sue and Uncle William and the rest of the family are together again.
As I sat at Aunt Mary's funeral on Sunday, thinking back over the years and the memories, it was stunning to me to see just how much of an impact she had not just on my life, but on all those with whom she came into contact. There was a couple of quotes in the funeral bulletin that I believe defined how Aunt Mary live and should be how each of us define our own life.
From Aunt Mary's Bible the following note was quoted "If I have touched your life in any way, give Jesus the credit. If I have been a disappointment, blame me." Wow, I wonder how many of us can honestly say that our lives are defined by thoughts such as these. In a world and a society where fame, glory, pride, greed, envy, lust, etc. abound, here is this little old woman, who most of society would deem worthless, living her life to the fullest for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The humbleness in the statement quoted here is amazing, taking none of the credit, but all of the blame. Willing giving to God was she knew to be rightly his. Please understand me, this is what it is all about and the message that I think that Aunt Mary would have for you today is for you to repent, turn away, believe, put all of your faith and trust in Jesus, and be SAVED. Realize that I start with REPENTANCE, there is no salvation unless you have repented of your sins and turned away from that life and towards God. For those of you who say that a Loving God will not condemn take a closer look at 2 Peter 2.
The second quotation that came from Aunt Mary's Bible wa this "When we die I have come to believe that God will ask two questions of us - First, What did you do with my Son, Jesus? and second, What did you do with the talents I gave you?"
I will leave you with this today, how would you answer? What road have you traveled? Here's the good news, Jesus Loves You, there is no condemnation in him, you must but REPENT, BELIEVE, AND BE SAVED>
And that is my View from the Corner
Brad, Miss Mary would have been so proud of you! Adair and I are sorry that we were not in town to pay tribute to her. We are still in Florida and will be back home the first of May. She was a living example of how we should be. It was an honor to have known her! I do not think that I had ever been to Mt. Elon, until recently, that she was not there.
Posted by: bettyjeffords@msn.com | 04/22/2010 at 12:12 PM