Favored by Grace

One of the recurring themes at Aunt Faye’s service was our family being favored by grace. It was a message spoken by the pastor and in their own way each family member who spoke. 

The pastor used the 2 Timothy scripture to talk from his immediate knowledge of Faye and Ewing, ‘your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you.’ He spoke of how Aunt Faye would wake Rick, with the words of Isaiah 60:1, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come.”

I thought how he only knew half of the heritage story, did he know that Mrs. Graves woke Aunt Faye with the same verse every morning? 

People are drawn to us. Sometimes it is uncomfortable for us, because we know what flawed people we are, both as individuals and corporately. We can recognize a ‘Paris’ characteristic in the blink of an eye, and most of those are the best of life. 

There is one thing we have that many families don’t. We have Jesus in our midst. Not just for the Paris’, but for most extending families that have been added to our number. 

There is no explanation for why we have been favored with such a rich heritage of faith except the lavish mercy of God. 

After the service, while the family was still in the church, for a moment Rick and Karen stood at the casket, it was a tender memory I will never forget. 

I’m hard-wired to look for God everywhere.I’m never surprised when a breeze shows up at the gravesite. Not only did we have a breeze, this beautiful bird serenaded us. 

We have this wonderful heritage surrounding us. Are we continuing it?