(I want to let as many of you as possible see this, so I'm putting it here as well as on the Something to Think About blog. Thanks to Janet Patton for reminding me about the description from Proverbs 31 that I put in the title.)
When I was in my fourth and fifth years of college I attended a small church in northeast Pennsylvania. The first year I was there I was separated from my fiance', Kathy. Just a few weeks after we were married we moved into our first home, a mobile-home out in the country between Baptist Bible College and the Osterhout Bible Church. There were many reasons why those two years in the little church by Susquehanna were a great time in my and our young lives. High on the list, though, of benefits of worshipping and serving with that group of country and small-town folk was the fact that Agnes Decker was the pastor's wife.
She was a pastor's wife in the old sense of the role. The life of the church was marked by her hard work, hospitality, teaching, compassion, willingness to do what needed to be done and prayer. She helped a guy who missed his girl feel at home and embraced us as newly-weds. We were welcomed to the Decker home on several occasions. Mrs. Decker, and her daughters, whom she had trained, were great hostesses and cooks. There was nothing fancy there, just good and plenty served with love.
In her later years, until her health declined, Mrs. Decker carried on a ministry via email. It was much the same as her ministry in person--she passed on what she had gained, shared kind words, and offered and encouraged prayer.
Mrs. Decker's funeral is tomorrow. To all the family, Kathy and I celebrate with Agnes Decker's life lived to the glory of God, and we pray for you in your time of loss.
Heaven will be sweet. Let's lay up treasures there. I think Mrs. Decker modeled that. I hope at one of the suppers in glory--surely there will be supper there--I can wait on Mrs. Decker. I fear, though, that she'll already have her apron on.
It's STTA.
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