OUR REMAINING FAMILY

Most of our remaining family spent part of the day before Easter on the hill above our house where both of our sons were married, where five of our six grand kids were dedicated to Christ by Grandpa and where his ashes are buried under a headstone that reads: "To God be the Glory".  If my ashes are buried under that same mighty oak my headstone will read: "Great things He hath done".  The words of that marvelous old hymn pretty much sum up our lives together and continue to sustain me as I press on without my beloved partner.

I feel so sorry for women who are married to sissies. Take Prophetess/Judge Deborah who may have wanted to be a stay-at-home mom and may have had no ambitions to sit under a tree and dole out wisdom by the bucketful to a nation that was pitifully short on men's men. Debbie's husband didn't sign up nor was he invited to be a judge.  Barak, the general would not go into battle unless she went with him.  I don't know for sure if that meant that both were sissies. My training began early on in discerning the difference between a real man's man and a sissy.  Both of my brothers devalued women.  When I met and married gentle Ted at first my brothers made fun of him because he didn't cuss,  lose his temper or belittle women. It is interesting, however that as their lives went haywire Ted was the first one they called.  Ted was not however, swift at spotting Christians with ambition for power and prestige; therefore as much as there were delightful aspects of being the wife of a pastor, there were many sleepless nights for me when I saw trouble on the horizon and Ted fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

In one of our churches there was an elder who actually said to my husband: "You know it is my money that brought you here",  to which Ted replied: "No, that isn't true. The Lord brought me here". That very next week that man left and went down the street and joined another church. Our poor little gathering was in debt up to its eyeballs. That week I went to the church to practice on the organ for the offertory and not only had the man taken his money but he had taken his organ too. (You can chuckle if you want.)  We would meet this same man with a different face in a different place many times throughout our pastoral years. These disappointments were scary to me, but not to my Ted. "Give me the walled cities!" was always his battle-cry! One of his many oft-quoted scriptures was I Samuel 17:47: "The Lord saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's and He will give you into our hands."  I have a number of pastor/friends. One, Mike Loehrer,  has written a book entitled:  "Egoless Elders" (West Bow Press).  I recommend it and am honored to endorse it.

We who have lived a long time are alarmed that our kids and grandkids are ill-prepared for hardship. If Satan has slyly distracted your church by divisions and trivia, get into a good Bible study and strengthen your marriage and your family in scripture. Nothing else has ever sustained us and never will. "I will never leave you nor forsake you." "Go and make disciples, and lo, I am with you always." Ted Stone's quiet and steady trust in a Mighty God was still evident when most of what's left of the Stone clan came together on Resurrection Day.  We were all re-charged for the battle that will continue until we each arrive in Heaven and are...

                                           FACE TO FACE WITH HIM,  IN ALL HIS GLORY

Only faintly now I see Him, with the darkening veil between;
But a blessed day is coming when His glory shall be seen.
                                         
Face to face O blissful moment! Face to face to see and know.
Face to face with my Redeemer; Jesus Christ Who loves us so.

FACE TO FACE I SHALL BEHOLD HIM, 
FAR BEYOND THE STARRY SKY
FACE TO FACE IN ALL HIS GLORY, 
I SHALL SEE HIM BY AND BY!

Love,  Jo

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