The Pastor started off talking about saints and those that have gone before us who have made significant impacts on the Christian faith.... this is a little unusual for my protestant church... we don't worship or pray to saints like other religions do. We believe that we may have an intimate, personal relationship with Christ Jesus and do not require intercession. Then he asked us to make All Saints Day more personal by looking into our own walk with Christ and people or persons who led us to Him. He asked us to come forward and say their name and light a candle for them because this day represents their being in the presence of our Savior. I named my Step-Mother (Smother!) because she was integral in my becoming a Christian.
My Father & Smother 2002
Smother and I had many conversations about religion when hubby and I lived with them after transferring from Utah to California for a job in 1994. We stayed with them for a wonderful 3 or 4 months and had marathon "Spite and Malice" games and popcorn by the bucketful! Over the years, I attended Midnight Mass with her on Christmas Eve and drilled her on religions, culture, musicals, books and anything else she would tolerate. I loved that she was so smart and could remember vivid details at the drop of a hat and loved to tell stories of her many insurance fraud investigations. And that woman could COOK! Oh, just thinking of her jumbalaya, cheesy scalloped potatoes, seven minute frosting, coffee smoothies, mimosa's.... makes me gain ten pounds! She passed away in 2005 from Lung Cancer and I miss her so much.
My family has a "theme song" that we play before and after family time bible lessons and I would like to dedicate it to Nanny / Smother's memory today because her Lifesong gave me a glimpse of what My Jesus looks like. Thank you for sharing your faith and your love with me.....
I didn't have the privilege of knowing Anne for long but what the short amount of time I had was so special to me. She always had a lot to share with me and always knew what I needed to hear and when. We miss her also, thanks for this entry we really enjoyed reading it.
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