I hope you all will permit me to pay a personal tribute today to a lady who has meant so much to me. As most of you know, my Aunt Inez went home to be with our Lord and Saviour on Monday evening (October 31). She was a woman who loved Jesus and showed His love and 
grace to those around her. She showed the fruit of the Spirit with kindness, gentleness, love, generosity, and faithfulness to everyone she knew and even strangers. Was she without pain and troubles? Oh no, she had her share of those. She was a 20+ year breast cancer survivor. In the last 3’years, she had lived through a broken hip, the death of her oldest daughter to cancer, a stroke, a broken wrist, nerve spasms in her legs which made it difficult to walk at times, a dislocated shoulder and the removal of her other breast due to cancer. As you can see, she was no stranger to pain. Plus, she was the last of 8 children born to my Ma and Pa. She had seen all 7 of her siblings’ death. But, even in all this, she didn’t lose her faith in a mighty God whose grace had saved her soul. She firmly believed that she would she her beloved daughter again and rejoice with her. The last time I talked with her, she was in pain, but she was more concerned about me and how I was doing than her own pain. That’s just the way she was. One might ask how she could have come through all that, especially at being almost 80 years old. The simple answer is a wholehearted faith in a mighty God. She read and believed the Bible that says, “He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth . The Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 25:8) She also believed in His protection as promised in Psalm 18:30 which says, “…His way is perfect; the Word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” She believed that God is Sovereign and good. Even when she struggled with the brokenness and troubles of this world, she still believed in the truth of God’s Word and His promises. She believed that He was in control of everything that happened in her life and He had a reason for all of it. Was it hard at times and did she struggle with her problems? Of course she did, she was 
only human after all. But, did she give up? No, she didn’t. She continued to cling to Him and His promises in child-like trust believing that His way-though mysterious-is perfect. I believe the moment she closed her eyes in death, Jesus met her and carried her spirit away to that Heavenly home too which she so looked forward and that she is rejoicing with Him and her family there. I will be looking forward to a happy reunion with her and all my other beloved ones some day. I just pray that I can leave behind as great a testimony of God’s great love and mercy as my aunt has. So, Aunt Inez, I will miss you until I take my Heavenly journey and see you again.
