Memorial Service

We had a memorial service this afternoon for my mother at my sister's church in Bloomington. It was a beautiful service with many Minneapolis area people attending. I showed my slide show tribute to my mother during the service. I reduced it to 145 slides and synced it with music from Fernando Ortega: I will sing of my Redeemer and Hear me calling, great Redeemer. I also had the strength to get up and talk about my mother and thought I would summarize it here:

I was a Mommie's boy (at which point my sisters seem to say, Amen!) I was born on Mother's Day in 1948 and every birthday I had since, my mother would say I was the best Mother's Day gift she had received.

I was with my mother many times during the last week of her life and I was there with my sister when she died. Though she could not communicate with us, I believed that she was praying for me and others while we were praying for her. During the last moments of her life, my sister and I were reciting the 23rd Psalm. As the gates of Heaven opened for her and she went on through, I could sense the power of God and the joy within her soul.

I thanked the many people at the service who have been praying for me. The 22 blood tranfusions that I have had over the past year have kept this earthly body of mine alive. But it was the big blood tranfusion that Jesus Christ gave me on the cross that will keep me alive for all eternity.