This morning was the memorial service for Eve Christie, a woman of great faith and prayer who was a long-time member of NewLife before moving to a different church in 2008. Eve died last Wednesday of cancer at age 68, but she left a legacy of the power of prayer and the joy of trusting in the Father through even the most difficult circumstances. One of the verses shared during the service was Philippians 1:21 – “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Eve’s life was most certainly about Jesus Christ, and praise God that in death she has only gained a greater relationship with Him.
One of my most treasured memories of Eve had to do with prayer, of course. Eve used to come to our Thursday noon prayer meetings at the church office, and one day she came with a big notebook to show me. In that notebook, she had collected hundreds of prayers, Scriptures, promises of God, and personal prayers. Reading through this book was like looking into the portfolio of a renowned artist, or the compositions of a virtuoso musician. Eve’s passionate heart, full of trust in her God, was displayed on every page. As she showed me the book, she recommended that I add a “prayer focus for the week” to the weekly Pulse, and I did just that, often drawing on something from Eve’s prayer notebook in order to stir our church’s hearts towards greater faith and prayer.
The verse I usually like to preach on when I lead a memorial service is Ecclesiastes 7:2 – “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man.” At every funeral, we are reminded of the finality of death, the importance of living every day to the fullest, and the need to make sure we are right with God. We are also reminded of how uniquely special the life we have been given really is, and the opportunity we have to forever impact the lives of others. One of my favorite quotes comes from the late Christian musician Rich Mullins. Reflecting on death, he wrote, “I think we cry at funerals – even at funerals of people we don’t like – because we realize what a miracle a life is. You realize, ‘This will never happen again.’ There will never be this exact combination of genes, there will never again be the things that have created this person to be what he is. God has spoken uniquely here, and it’s gone. It’s over. And I think there is some regret, because we all realize, boy, we didn’t pay enough attention.” God spoke uniquely when He created Eve, and blessed are those who took the time to pay attention to what He had to say through her.
Do you have any meaningful memories of Eve? If so, please share a comment below.
Write a comment