Honoring My Mom

This is a different Thanksgiving for us.  My brother died this year, and we are burying my mom's ashes this week in Big Stone Gap, Virginia.  I wanted to honor her at the graveside service, and this is what I came up with.  Special thanks to Caroline for having the idea that got the ball rolling.

For Mom (GiGi)

2500 years ago, in a far away place, there was a young Jewish girl named Esther.   Her parents died early, and she was raised by her cousin Mordecai.  Esther loved to read and study, especially about God. 

Back then, there were two groups of people in that region, the Persians and the Jews.  The Jews worshipped the God we know, but the Persians worshipped a lot of other different Gods.  The Jews and the Persians didn’t get along with each other very well. 

King Xerxes was the King of the Persians, and he was looking for a new queen.  The king found Esther to be kind and beautiful, and he picked her to be the new queen - but he didn’t know that Esther was a Jew.  Eshter was grateful for all the things that her knew role as queen brought to her, and she did all she could to serve her family and all the people in the kingdom.

There was an evil man named Haman that served the king.  Haman got mad at Mordecai, Esther’s cousin, because Mordecai wouldn’t bow down to him.   Haman made a plan to kill Mordecai by hanging him on a tree.  But then he thought, why stop with Mordecai, and Haman devised a plan to kill all of the Jews in Persia.

When Mordecai learned of the plan, he went to Esther and told her that she must go to the King and ask him for help, but in those days, it was dangerous for a woman to approach a man, even her husband, without being asked to.   Mordecai told Esther that she may have been put in this place to save the Jews “for such a time as this.”   

Esther was scared, because as a Jew, her own life was at risk.  She didn’t know what to do so she prayed for three days asking God for direction.  God gave her courage and told the king of Haman’s plan to kill the Jews, and revealed that she was also a Jew.   The King was furious with Haman and had him hung on the tree that Haman had intended for Mordecai, and the King put Mordecai in charge of all that Haman had been responsible for.  Then the king made a new law that gave all the Jews freedom and the right to defend themselves, saving them from destruction.  Eshter’s courage saved an entire people group, the same people group that Jesus would be born into 500 years later.

I see a lot of Eshter in GiGi.

Gigi was an avid reader.  I especially remember her reading along with the bible study group that met at our house.  One of our last conversations before she died was about what our group had studied earlier that week.   I am thankful that she had the ability to do this until the very end.  Gigi loved to read and study - just like Eshter.

Gigi taught kids about Jesus in Sunday School for most of her life.  Gigi served others – just like Esther.

Gigi woke up most mornings thinking of the things that she was grateful for and thanking God for all that He had done for her.   She also asked God for direction in dealing with difficult situations.  Gigi prayed – just like Esther.

I am thankful for all that mom did for me and our family and can't wait to see her again one day.