Great Aunt Martha and April 21

We went to a funeral today.  It was a celebration of Carissa's Great Aunt Martha.  Honestly, I didn't know Martha very well at all.  I saw her maybe once every couple of years at a family gathering or family reunion ever since I started attending those things with Carissa back in the 90s.  I know I exchanged hugs and polite pleasantries with Martha on those occasions, but probably not much more than, "Hello, it's nice to see you.  It's so fun to have all the family together isn't it?"  I remember she had a very warm, gentle smile and just seemed like a really sweet lady.  The Lord gave her 90 years of life and by the accounts of her family today at the funeral, she lived them well, in faithful service to Him.

I think the last funeral I attended was our friend Elliott Orr's.  The Lord saw fit to give Elliott just 23 years of life.  He received 23, Martha received 90.  How does he do that?  Why does he do that?  I found out at the funeral today that Martha actually had 5 children, not just the 4 we know today.  She had a son born 2 months premature and he only lived a number of hours. And the Lord does that still -- gives some children only a few hours of breath and life.  It's hard to understand.

Funerals have an added dimension to them now.  I see Martha in that casket and I can't help but picture Louisa.  But it wouldn't be such a big casket in Louisa's case, they'd have a smaller one.  And it wouldn't be her son and grandsons eulogizing her, it would be her parents, probably a sibling if one of them was brave enough.  Actually, I'm pretty sure Carissa wouldn't be able to do it, so it would have to be her father.  It would be me.  But I can't imagine I could bear to do it.  What would I say about my little girl?  She hasn't accomplished any great humanitarian thing.  No athletic prowess to brag about.  She has no musical talent.  Sure I could talk about her goofy smile and carefree clumsiness.  I could talk about all the medical miracles. But, really, the most important thing I'd have to talk about would be the Lord.  I'd have to talk about the Lord and what he's done in her short life.  I don't know if I could get through a eulogy for my baby girl.  But, then again, I didn't think I could get through the first few months of her life.

Louisa now has surgery on the books in Ann Arbor.  She's scheduled for her completion Fontan operation on April 18, 2016.  Carissa called me a few weeks ago at work.  She was at Bible study when the surgeon's assistant who does the scheduling called.  Not a day goes by in my life at work that I don't say to one of my patients, "the folks at central scheduling will give you call to get this test scheduled as soon as we process all the paperwork and get approval from your insurance."  I say it every day.  It's no big deal to me.  But when you have a date on the calendar, it comes with a weight on your heart.  She was a bit panicked on the phone, hyperventilating a touch.  I tried to calm her down and wrote the date on a sticky note -- April 18.  I stuck it to my desk and looked at it for a while after convincing Carissa that she really could breathe and should go back to Bible study and enjoy some fellowship with the saints.  I just stared at that sticky note for a while.  April 18.  Hmm.  April 18...

On that day I'll drive my beautiful little girl back to Ann Arbor.  She'll be wondering why we forgot to give her any breakfast.  She'll wonder why mom is shaky and acting kind of crazy!  She might recognize the place when we pull up.  We'll check in and go to some kind of pre-op area.  All the medical people will be there just going about their day.  April 18 will be like any other day to them.  The surgeon will probably come by to do the obligatory pre-op greeting.  He's done thousands of these.  We'll probably be one of at least a couple cases for him that day.  Then probably the fellow will show up to do the dreaded informed consent where they tell you all the horrific things that might happen to our beautiful Louisa and are we sure we want to go through with it?  I'll sign it.  What will I be doing signing that thing?  Are we sure there isn't another way to do this that isn't this?  And then we'll give her our last desperate kisses, trying to be strong and hoping she doesn't sense our fear.  And we'll send her off.  Off for them to anesthetize and paralyze and incise and saw and cross-clamp and arrest and bypass and cool and cut.  And then what.  And then what will happen next on April 18?

I'll admit, I'm terrified of April 18.  But I think I'm a bit more fearful of April 19 and 20 and 21.  I have a pretty good idea of how April 18 will go.  Well, at least the first half.  So what about April 19?  And April 20?  Could it be a funeral on April 21?  Ahhhh, stop this nonsense!  Why am I allowing myself to even think about it!  This is nuts!  She's probably going to be fine.  We do NOT need to start planning funerals!  And then I remember where I am, I'm at Aunt Martha's funeral.  It's not Louisa's funeral.  It's not April 21, it's November 11, 2015.

It hit me hard today how simple our task is here.  Oh how I complicate it, but it really is simple -- just pass on the good deposit of faith that was given to you.  That's it.  We faithfully pass it along.  It's funny how there seems to be a tiny something in all of us that wants to be great, wants to be made much of, wants to be well known.  Aunt Martha may have had a bit of that too, but as far as I know she didn't leave a huge mark on science, culture, sports -- whatever.  But she faithfully passed on an inheritance of faith.  Her son Tim preached it today.  Her grandsons eloquently spoke of it too and I know they're faithfully teaching her great-grandchildren now. That is greatness.  She wanted a gospel-centered funeral.  She asked the pastor to preach the gospel and he did.  And she asked uncle Jim to lead an impromptu volunteer choir in singing the Hallelujah Chorus.  And they did it!  And it hit me again -- all of this is about Jesus.  Whether it's 90 years or 90 minutes, or 23 years or 2 years.   Martha got it, it's about Jesus.  It's about passing on the faith to the next generation.  It's so simple.  Just tell your kids about it.  Tell your grandkids.  Tell your friends.  Tell them over and over.  Make sure they know that Jesus is the most important thing in your life.  Sure the details of life and doctrine can get a bit messy, but don't make it more complicated that it has to be.

So, Aunt Martha's "April 21" has come and gone.  I filed out of the little church after saying good-bye to the family and Carissa and I took off to enjoy what was left of the afternoon.  We stopped for lunch at the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth so Carissa could get some buttered noodles that remind her of her childhood with those wonderful old German saints.  And we ran in to the Adidas outlet so I could get a new t-shirt.  And the Lord reigns over all that "normal" stuff too.  Funerals and Adidas t-shirts on the same day.  It's weird.  But it makes sense because King Jesus is Lord of ALL.  He reigns over Great Aunt Martha's 90 years and he reigns over Louisa's April 18 and 19 and 20 and 21.  I've had 37 April 21s in my life so far and I've lived through each one.  I'm praying Louisa has more than 2 April 21s in her lifetime.  But even if 2 is all that are ordained for her, I'll do my darndest to get up in front of that church and talk about the gospel -- the good news of Jesus Christ overcoming sin and death and securing eternal life for all who will come to him and exchange their burden for his easy yoke.

This little church outside of Flint has a tall steeple and a bell at the top.  There's a long wooden pole that extends down into the foyer at the back of the church.  After the service concluded, there was a man who just kept pulling on that pole and ringing the bell.  Over and over again.  He must have rung that bell for a solid 45 minutes while the family said goodbye and they closed the casket for the last time.  That bell kept ringing and ringing.  It was like the Hallelujah Chorus.  There aren't a whole lot of words in that song, and most of them are "Hallelujah" but they're pretty much the only words you'll ever need to know in this life:

Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah
Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah

For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth
Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth
Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah

King of kings and Lord of lords
King of kings and Lord of lords
And He shall reign forever and ever
Forever and ever

Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah
Hallelujah

My silly Adidas t-shirt has a number "3" on it (you know, Adidas is "the brand with the 3 stripes").  I'm thinking I'll wear it on April 21, 2016. That'll be Louisa's 3rd April 21.  And maybe we'll dress her up in that sweet purple Adidas track jacket and purple leggings we got her today.  That is, if enough tubes and wires are out by then.

Carissa and Molly with their dear Grandma Ella at the funeral. Martha, Ella, Emma, and Adeline have been best friends since they were little girls and Martha and Ella married brothers. Martha was the first of the 4 friends to go at age 90. A wonderful heritage of faith and some tough ladies.