As I write this, I am exhausted and know that I cannot adequately lay out all of the thoughts and feelings that are surrounding me right now. But I thought I would get out a few.
Randy's grandmother passed away Saturday morning. Through the disease of Alzheimer's, she has been slipping away for the past few years. Randy's Aunt commented today that it was as though her mom was walking away into a fog. Randy, Cass and I headed over to Yakima Saturday after I got off of work to be with the family. Unfortunately, we had to come back home tonight because of work commitments Monday morning.
While in Yakima, though, Randy and I had many moments of reflections, as one often does after the passing of a loved one. The death of someone we know has a way of reminding us that we too will pass one day. Life seems to fragile, so short. It is a time to reflect on what one does with their own life and look for some sort of meaning. "What am I here for?" "What will be remembered about me when I am gone" are questions that goes through one's mind.
There are those of us whose names will be remembered here on earth for many, many years past the time that their life has ended. Who could forget what Albert Einstein did for the world as we know it or all that Mother Theresa blessed the world with? Most of us seem so small and so insignificant and know our names and the remembrance of our lives will pass shortly after the time our life here has ended.
Faye Rush won't bee memorialized here on earth as Mother Theresa has. Her days weren't filled with the tremendous humanitarian efforts that Mother Theresa did day in and day out. Faye's day involved going to work, being a mother to her son and her daughter, and being the wife to her husband. Her life extended out to include being a mother-In-law, a grandmother and even a great-grandmother. Is this what life is really all about? We live, we have families, we love our families and watch them grow, and then that's it? We're gone, only to come alive again when someone brings up a memory, perhaps a funny story of something we said or did or something that stuck in their memory about us? What good did we do here?
What meaning did Faye Rush have here? Simply put, she believed in God. She believed that God created this world, created man, and then God sent His very own Son down to this earth to die for mankind and take away all of our sin. She believed in God's love and in His grace. Faye stood faithfully by God knowing that He would stay faithfully by her. Her and her husband were an integral part of starting a church in Zillah and in keeping the church going through rough times.
For the last few years, though, Faye has slowly sinking into the pit of Alzheimer's. Her memories going away or getting mixed up and twisted around. She had to move into a nursing home and couldn't attend the church any longer. Through the time that she was gone, many of those who knew her moved on as well in one way or another.
It seems that, as time passes, that church has less and less of the presence of Faye Rush. Most there might not even know the love, the joy, the tears, the prayers that she put into that church, helping it to be what it is now for those who attend it now. Our human eyes are so very limited. We see sometimes only what is right in front of us, what is obvious. One can look at the books of the church for attendance and know Faye was here.
If only we could get a glimpse of everyone who has entered this church through God's eyes. Then we could see the little seed in them that was planted by Faye. When God sees me here, he sees the seed that Faye put into me, without her even knowing I was going to be here. It is a seed for the relationship with God. For those who have never gotten one before, it is there for God to help you start growing and learning about Him and all of the love He has to offer you. For those who have had seeds before, it is to help strengthen those or to help you find your way back when you got a little turned around. For others, it is a seed to give you just the support you need to start working with God on showing you how to let go of your seeds so that you will, as Faye, becoming one of the living legends, right up there with Mother Theresa. When God looks into this church, he sees the seeds of Faye, going with all of those who go in and out of these doors. Because of her faith fullness and her love and joy in knowing the Lord, Faye's seeds have spread far and wide. People she never met here on earth will one day be finding her in heaven and thank her for starting the seed that lead to them finding the relationship with Jesus.
Faye knew the best way to cultivate the seeds she was given. Love. Her spirit was filled with it. We have a lot of "great people" who have passed from this earth that we should try to emulate. The Brilliant Albert Einstein, Mother Theresa, and now Faye Rush.
One last observation I wanted to comment on before closing is this - while we were at the grave site viewing where she was going to be buried, Randy made a very in-depth statement. He had a brush with death on June 20, 2006 with his car accident. Today, Randy said very matter a factly "If I wouldn't have made it on that day, I wasn't saved." I can't even imagine what my life would have been like having to go through it knowing that the man whom I love the most, who is my partner and best friend, could not be with me in the celebration of the new world.
We were given a other change that day. Now is the time that we start spreading out the seed we have to give and work on cultivating that which has been given to us.
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