One of the more significant experiences of my life came in a way by chance, yet I don’t think chance had anything to do with it at all. In 2004 my grandma was still recovering from a stroke and though she was recovering well, many wondered if she was nearing the end at that point. We scheduled a trip sandwiched in between two Cub games on our way in and out of Chicago.
What we hadn’t really planned on our own was that our trip coincided with my grandma’s 90th birthday and a celebration that her church, Shannon Baptist Church, had planned for that day – Delma Day.
She was not doing great upon our arrival. In fact, within a couple days of our arrival, she had some bad spells and it got to the point where Christine and I had to take her to the Emergency Room. We were there until 2 or 3 in the morning. Multiple people, in the community and medical personnel took the time to advise me to “get her affairs in order” because she was so weak it didn’t look like she would being able to bounce back. It was rather overwhelming, but that evening was a great blessing. For Christine and I to share that quiet evening with Delma was a great gift. Reading Scripture for her, praying with her and for her, and just being present holding her hand while she was being monitored took on a very special feel, even in the midst of it.
She was released about 2 or 3 a.m. and we questioned the wisdom of her making it to church the next morning at around 9ish. But it was Delma Day and probably more importantly, the Lord’s Day and she wasn’t to be stopped. We got her ready in her special yellow suit, including a corsage.
The church service was designed to honor her and her many years of service. Several people were brought up to the front to share how Delma had made a significant impact on their lives. The pastor shared about her many years of service – from one-room school teacher to farmer’s wife to international missionary to working in a troubled teen girl’s home (in late 70′s) to teaching on an Indian Reservation in New Mexico to teaching Vacation Bible School in her neighborhood and church to working in the nursery at church. What’s amazing is that most of that was after she was widowed in 1979 at 65 years of age.
The most amazing part of the service was the standing ovation that this 150 person church gave her. In the moment, it was overwhelming in light of the previous night. I wondered what was going on her mind as she sat in the back row of the church, too weak to stand, but the object of the entire congregation’s praise and admiration and love. It was a divine moment in which she was honored, but it also revealed the honor of this small country church. It’s not something you see very often these days – where 90 year old widows are being honored in a Sunday morning service.
We then had a classic country potluck for the church lunch/reception in which provided Christine and I a greater opportunity to interact with the community and Delma’s friends to hear first hand about how these people felt about Delma. It was unbelievable.
My thoughts at the time were focused on why out of her 5 children, 18 grandchildren, and 32 great-grandchildren did Christine and I get the opportunity to be there for Delma in this moment of need as well as be there to witness this great day. I still don’t know the answer to that, but I’m glad we were there. It’s the greatest and most vivid experience and memory I have of her – yet it was an experience that even transcended my grandma and her great life and legacy. It was a moment in which the church was having one of its finest moments – and that has left a lasting impression upon me.
Delma’s memorial service was also special and I continually thought back to Delma Day as it was held in the same sanctuary. She was a very humble woman, though quite stubborn at times too. I heard a few make comments this week to the effect that she would have hated all the fuss made out to her. In some ways, this is true.
But I was there on Delma Day. I saw the fierce determination she had to get to church that morning. I saw the proud look on her face in the face of all the “fuss.” What was evident though is that she did not revel in it, nor did she live for it. She seemed to have found it incredibly meaningful and validating from those that she faithfully served and served with for so many years. I could tell she was enjoying her moment of hearing “well done good and faithful servant” from her church family. In that memorial service, I couldn’t help think that now, four years later, she was enjoying hearing the very same thing from the one she truly desired to hear it from – her Lord.
