Sad News on a Day of Light

Does anyone remember a guest post I put up over a year ago, from a mom in our theater group who had cancer? She said when she got the news that she had cancer, she felt like Charlie Brown, looking in his paper sack on Halloween and hoping for a treat like all the other kids, only to find "I got a rock." She continued:

I am, however, somewhat of a hybrid mix of Peppermint Patty, Snoopy and Linus. So the term "I got a rock" for me became a shout of gladness...I GOT A ROCK!!!!!!! I do have a rock-- the best kind of rock, one that will never waver, not a rock of the disappointing sort but one of great joy!

There is no Rock like our God, no other name, worthy of all our praise, The Rock of salvation that cannot be moved, He's proven Himself to be faithful and true!!! (One of my favorite praise song lyrics.)

Today, Annie left this transient world and planted her feet on the solid Rock of heaven.

As her friends, we rejoice for her--but we grieve for ourselves, and for her husband, teenage son, younger son, and 4-year-old daughter. Our tight-knit theater group will be such a support to them, but so many of the kids in it are going to be reeling in the pain of her death. They are in the midst of rehearsals for a show in which her son has a lead part (he is Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), so if you can join me in prayer for her family, please include the kids in the cast and the families in our theater group. Annie was so well-loved by us all.

She once described her crazy, cheerful personality and her mission in life in this way (I'm paraphrasing): "I was born with a can of yellow paint in my hand, and I just knew that my job was to paint everyone around me with cheerful yellow paint!" And that's exactly what she did.

The twelve days of Christmas ended yesterday, and today is the Feast of Epiphany, on which we celebrate the Light of Christ manifested for the first time to the Gentiles (the Wise Men). It seems appropriate that Annie, who was such a light to us all, was swept up into the light of Heaven on this day, to be with the Light of the world.

Just a year ago, when Annie learned that her cancer had spread, she wrote that she would be a light for God in her remaining days:

I have nothing but a clear goal of honoring my Saviour through my suffering--whether I go this year or next, whatever time He chooses--it is HIS will--not mine. ...I am not giving up--I have much Hope and I know that if God wants to heal me and perform miracles, then He shall, but I do not claim to have the power to tell God what to do--HE IS GOD!!!!! and HE IS GOOD!!!!! And as hard as it is--it MUST be that way--HIS WILL. ...So please do not weep for me out of sadness or woe, but be glad that He gave me this time to be a light for Him and have a much more heavenly reward than ever imaginable! I get to go see JESUS! ........How cool is THAT???????

Let us rejoice with Annie...but mourn with her family and friends. Thank you for your prayers, if you are so led.

(And thank you for those who prayed for my friend Taryn--she is home, on anti-seizure medicine, and recovering well! What a joyful answer to our prayers!)