It's been awhile since I sat down to write, but yet after today I decided to write about a woman whose funeral I attended this morning.
My good friend Sandra Mae has in the last two months buried first her dad Martin Phernambucq at age 87, and today it was her mother Phyllis at age 85.. They had been married just about 64 years.. That is a long time in a world of disposable everything. They had 2 sons (Steve and Stan) and than 2 daughters (Sandra and Sue).
They were the kind of parents whose legacy is that they loved well, trained well, and have shared their complete love of Jesus with their children who are all believing followers of Christ. Proud grandparents of 11 and great grandparents to 12.
And today they are in the loving arms of Jesus, no more constraints of this world, no more need for faith, no more of needing hope... they have only to experience love in the presence of Jesus and those who have gone before them..
Martin showed his sons how to be a Godly man, a love of his was fishing, the outdoors, camping and to his daughters how a true man will treat his wife.. He made sure there were enough working bikes/toys at his house for the grandkids and encouraged there visits. Treated them with respect and learned who each of them were and interacted well in order to speak of Jesus into there lives...
Phyllis was a generous woman with her witty personality, infectious smile, made creative crafts for boutiques in order to provide the "gift" money towards each of the kids and grandkids.. She was a garage sale treasure hunter.. loved the hunt and shared this with Sandy/Leah the treasure hunters of another couple of generations.. But Phyllis's gift was prayer warrior. And she didn't just give you a flippant "oh I'll pray for you", she did it with a perserverance. If she knew you, she was praying for you. She was inquisitive about you and asked questions and from this she knew what to pray for.. One of her grand daughters shared that this was something grandma was so good at doing, drawing from you in honest conversation about you and than be praying and checking in with you.
What an amazing family the Phernambucqs have been over the years. And yet through the celebration of there lives we are once again reminded that life doesn't need to be so complicated to be so genuinely treasured by those who we leave behind for a short time. They did all of this because they knew they needed Jesus and shared that with others.
God is so good.. and I am so glad to have gotten to know them through Sandy.
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