A Lasting Testimony . . .

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I have thoroughly enjoyed my deeper Scripture study in these past weeks. I've always tried to keep up with "devotions" and read something along with a devotional book, but this has been different. It's been the challenge of reading through the Bible, and really understanding and digging deeper. I am by no means a Bible scholar, but just want to share things that have enriched me.

(Note: this was actually my reading from several days ago - and just did not have time to finish my posting here). Genesis 23 deals with Abraham's wife, Sarah at age 127 year of age, died. Did you know that Sarah's age is the only woman's age revealed in the Bible? I thought that was neat. Abraham's greif is showin in the 2nd verse: "Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her." It's ok for a man to weep for his loved one. Next, he wanted to find the right place to bury her, where his roots were, in the land of . I could go into a lot of detail of this, but what I found interesting, was even though he could have been "given" the land to bury his wife, he wants to make it right, and purchase the land for a fair price. It became a family burial place . . . Joseph was buried here too (Gen. 50:1-14).

I often look at commentaries at Bible.Org and found this interesting, especially after what we went through, now in burying two children:

While we may decry the “high cost of death,” let me suggest that some may overreact to burial costs in such a way as to affect their Christian testimony. Unbelievers, who see no life after death, no resurrection, may well dispose of the body as cheaply and irreverently as possible. The Christian should give serious thought to this, however.

It is our hope that both Angela and Matthew's gravestones can be a lasting testimony for the Lord. We put a lot of thought into what went on their stones, to represent their lives and give God glory. I think this is what Abraham did too. He had a testimony with dealing with the people of Canan. And as we often hear said, what we are living now can be our epitat.

Angela's gravestone we had a lot of children's songs/hymns sung at her service and she is God's little lamb. We chose the wording at the bottom, "Little ones to Him belong" (with the actual notes at the top).

Matthew's gravestone, has a lot of little part's of his life - he wore several rings with either the fish or cross symbols on them. He could not just come out and share his faith at work, but if someone asked him, then he could. There were several that did! He wanted a new Bible for Christmas, which we buried with him, and his favorite sone was from MercyMe, "I can only imagine" which the words from the top & bottom are from.

Also, is the gravestones of my husband's grandparents, which I find one of the most amazing testimonies and such honor to his grandpa and grandma. You can click the pictures to see them in more detail.

This is Norm's grandparent's gravestones. If you click the picture above, you can see more detail. The monument on the right, for his grandma, is a young picture of her, with her 12 children around her, which was drawn by Norm's mom.

The picture on the right is the top view of grandma's with the verse "Her children rise up and call her blessed . . . " and the one on the left is the back, with a poem her sister wrote.

Lastly this is Norm's grandpa's gravestone . . .the front on the left with one of his favorite says, esp. at the end of a conversation "Maranatha" and then the neat "Children's Reflection" from his 12 children, of their Godly dad.