a farewell to LIBBY - 7/1/09

listen to the words from the following song… I once was fatherless, a stranger with no hope; Your kindness wakened me, Awakened me, from my sleep it’s ironic that libby died in her sleep… Into marvelous light I'm running, Out of darkness, out of shame. By the cross, you are the truth You are the life, you are the way Lift my hands and spin around, See the light that I have found. Oh the marvelous light Marvelous light Psalm 27:1 says that the lord is my light and the one who saves me We must TRUST god. We must trust not only that HE does what is best, but that he knows what is ahead. Could death be god’s GRACE for libby? We ask for god’s grace, but his answer is not always the answer we want. We all know that libby has struggled daily with her diabetes and we must still believe that GOD IS IN CONTROL…he knew what was BEST for libby. Corrie ten boom once said, “when the train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not. You sit still and TRUST the engineer to get you through” One lady describes a unique experience in her life as this… up ahead I saw three construction workers diligently working away in the heat, so I went up to them and asked if they wanted some water.. they said, “yes, please”. I went to the nearest store and bought 3 bottles of water. The workers were immensely pleased and wanted to pay for the drinks. I told them it was free. They were very shocked. This was a new experience for me also. I was never that generous, but more importantly, I would have never SEEN THEIR THIRST. Normally I would have walked past them, not thinking twice if they were thirsty. LIBBY LOOKED FOR THIRSTY PEOPLE… She DID FOR OTHERS with what she had until her last breath. She shared her home, her food, her LOVE everyday with someone. You all know the saying “she would give the shirt off her back”…even if she didn’t have a shirt to give, she would find a way to get a shirt and not keep it for herself, but give it away to someone in need. She was a wonderful daughter, sister, mother, aunt and friend to ALL OF US. I asked my daughter taylor to tell me what she thought about aunt libby, and her reply was, “SHE WAS SO NICE TO ME”. My guess is that if I polled everyone in this room, that would be your same answer. Ghandhi once said, “LIVE as if you were to die tomorrow. LEARN as if you were to live forever.” May we all learn from libby and the kindness of her ways. LEARN to GIVE, to CARE, to SHARE until OUR LAST BREATH.