2010: CHALLENGE 2: Death!

I started the year out on this blog by proposing a format to follow for the year, "Let's look at different challenges that you and I might have that would lead us to believe that God is not all that good. Let's start today by talking about the people who we live and work with." Little did I know that morning when I wrote my New Year's post on this blog that a friend of mine, a follower of Jesus Christ, had gotten her prayer answered.

.

Tanya prayed, "God let me live to see 2010!" She died a little over an hour into 2010. Yesterday, was Tanya McBride's funeral. An overcomer, Tanya was the wife of Tom for 38 years and the mother of six young adult children (the youngest being a senior in high school). It's amazing what we can learn about life through someone else's death. Yesterday, I did!

.
Tanya planned her own funeral... the songs... scriptures... even the 5 people who would speak... I was one of the singers and her choice of songs were so encouraging... songs like the one that should be playing on the playlist as you read this right now,

• "Oh, Lord prepare me to be a Sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving, I'll be a living sanctuary for You..."

.

That song alone speaks to who Tanya was. While on this earth, she was a sanctuary of the life and light of Jesus because she was plugged in to Him - THE ETERNAL TRANSFORMER!!! Jesus Christ is the reason that Tanya has overcome death with ETERNAL LIFE!
.
Her life on this earth was certainly not an easy one. She waitressed for many years before deciding (with six kids) to go back to school to be an R.N. The 5 men who she chose to speak: Steve, Greg, Derrick, Dan, and Dwight used words to describe her:
.

• ENCOURAGEMENT


• PERSEVERANCE


• WARRIOR


• UNCOMPROMISING FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST


• SANCTUARY
  .
• I chose my own words: OVERCOMER! TRANSFORMED!
  .

I think you will understand all of the above words even more as I share with you the following. Dan asked each of her children, "What is one thing that your mother taught you?" Here are their responses:

1. "We're all flawed!"


2. "We choose our friends, so choose carefully."


3. "God gave us family! So, take care of each other!"


4. "God gave me a strong work ethic because of my mother!"


5. "Nothing from my mom was about her... her needs were not important... the needs of others were!"


6. "I learned from my mom to fix my eyes on the unseen."
   

And, one of the children added one more thing:
7. "I've learned the importance of going to church."
.
I could not write fast enough to record what happened next. Her youngest daughter, a senior in high school, got up and read a poem she had written to her mama. It was long. I captured words at the end as tears streamed down my face.
.

• "Mama, I love you and I always will.... memories of you I'll keep near and pass them on to those who are dear.".

.

Then, already deeply touched, the standing room only auditorium full of friends and family were not prepared for what happened next. One of her four sons stood and gave an inspiring tribute beginning with reading Proverbs 31. He started with verse 10:

• "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm,all the days of her life..."
  .

Then, he continued with more than I can possibly remember or write here...

• "The English language has no one word that can capture my mom..." And, then he began to list, "Strong! Courageous! Caring! Faithful! Loyal!..."


• "She had the amazing ability to turn negatives into positives! She gave me a quote of Abraham Lincoln's when I was younger that she loved and now I do, 'Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.'"


• "Whether she waitressed or studied til 2 a.m., she still was up to make us breakfast and send us off to school."


• "It was amazing how she balanced the love she gave to all six children...including the different ways we liked our PBJ sandwiches: crust off, crust on, cut diagonally, in fours..."


• "She had the gift of gab..."


• "She was devoted..."


• "The most amazing thing about her was her consistency..."


• "She was the first person in NJ history to get a perfect score on the nursing critical thinking exam."


• "She was voted by her nursing school graduating class in 2004 to speak at their graduation ceremony."


• "Then came breast cancer and she beat it!"


• "Then came lung cancer and she beat it!"
  
• "On the top of her very tall stack of medical files she had scrawled the words, "TRUST GOD! DON'T WALLOW IN THIS!"


• "She loved to sing!"


• "She tried to keep up with the newest slang... she overused 'The Bomb!'"


• "She'd fix us hot chocolate and grilled cheese!"


• "She loved her ice cream cones!"


• "Each one of her kids have at least five friends who call her 'mom'."


• "Everyone loved being with mom. I know God does..."


• "She prayed that she would see 2010! God listened to mom again and granted her prayer. She died a little over one hour into 2010."
  
• "We should use our ENERGY to not be sad, but to make mom proud!"
  .

And where does that kind of energy come from? Tanya knew! She stayed plugged in to it. She used it to overcome! She stayed plugged in to the Transformer of all transformers: Jesus Christ! I am so thankful she did! I am so thankful His love, life and light are so available!

.

1 John 5:2-5
"For this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments;
and His commandments are not burdensome.
For whatever is born of God
overcomes the world;
and this is the victory
that has overcome the world —
our faith.
And who is the one who overcomes the world,
but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? "

.

If you have an extra 3 minutes, it would be well spent to learn about Tanya's attitude in her own words by clicking here and then scrolling down to her picture and the post surrounding that picture.

.