The sermon presented during the funeral service was great. If i am not a believer, it would have hit all the right spots. It addresses issues of loss, of eternal life, of just being asleep until rapture, of Jesus building mansions for us, of being guaranteed of an eternal home, of comfort and peace, of security and of fighting the good fight and keeping the faith till the end.
The verses that were read were these and they were truly comforting to me.
Isaiah 57:1-2
The righteous perish and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
1 Thessalonian 4:13-18
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left in the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage each other with these words.
Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
My favourite phrase to sum it all up, the phrase that has successfully comforted me to know that Ah Mah, though gone, still lives and will live forever, is nonetheless John 11:25: I am the resurrection and the life. he who believes in me WILL LIVE, eventhough he dies. And whosoever lives and believes in me will NEVER DIE. This will also be the verse for the granite of her plot in the collumbarium.
- Ah Mah has stood on the church podium before hundreds of people to give a testimony of her faith. She has also spoken about how she called on Jesus' name during a fall and saw white light. Apart from being awed by her courage in speaking in public (a trait which her oldest granddaughter certainly did not inherit), I realised my unnecessary stress in trying to make her understand the mechanics of salvation during the last days. Of course she understood!! Silly me.
- The pastors were amazed that Ah Mah did not suffer pain at all despite the brain scan revealing 3 tumours. We were told that people with tumours of any sort suffer great and intense pain. Now this is the latest revelation of God's love for her which we just found out today. God knew how low her pain threshold is and so shielded her from all that pain and trauma. Halleluyah. Thank you Lord!!
Love you loads, Ah Mah. Thank you for being there for me all these while. I wish i had spent more time with you when you are still here. Heaven rejoices on your arrival. Enjoy yourself with God and Jesus. Dance, party, go wild, relax, chill and just be. No more pain and suffering. Just joy in its purest form. Take it all in. Rest in peace until you hear the trumpet call and the sound of the archangel. And then we will all meet again. What a great day this will be.
The walk from the parlour to the crematorium was so very peaceful. The sun hid itself during that 10 minutes walk, making it so effortlessly pleasant. It was also joyously peaceful. Took a peer up the sky and smiled. Ah Mah must be there watching us from above, in that smile of hers, one that she always flashes, followed by that unmistakable emotional verbal acknowledgement which i have seen and heard many times.
Final goodbye before being wheeled into the burner.
The collumbarium:
Ah Mah's plot at Block 12A, Box no. 33A. It will be ready in a month's time with her photo and the bible verse on John 11:25 engraved on it. Ah Mah will not just rest here. She will forever be part of me. Afterall, I am her granddaughter. I have her blood and DNA flowing through me.
This isn't the end. More stories on Ah Mah will follow. There are a truckload more that i have not blogged about. There are certainly a lot more to be talked about and reminisce in that ripe old age of 85. She has also just celebrated her 85th birthday on 2 July. I am going to dedicate the month of July to remember her by every year as it is a month that she was born and also went home to be with the Lord.
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