Have you ever had someone in your life who made an impact in a single moment?
Earlier this year, my church community lost a dear woman who transformed my life in a single moment. And I’m not even sure she knew it before she died.
I didn’t know her well—we’ve only been attending the church for two years now, one of which has been mostly virtual. I don’t know if she was able to participate in church during this time of virtual worship or not, but I do know that in the nine months that we worshipped with her in person, she made a lasting impact on me.
She was an artist. And she loved my children. Every Sunday she would make a point to stop by and say hello. To tell me how beautiful they were, and to share with me how precious this time with them is.
She saw me crying in worship once. I do that often—especially on days when there’s some talk about answering God’s call. I remember that service quite vividly. I was feeling a little torn between wanting to live this homeschooling life that I feel very called to and wanting to make a very big difference in the world—also something that I feel very called to.
We were singing “Will You Come and Follow Me” when the tears fell so hard and fast on my face that I couldn’t even sing the words aloud. I tried to hide it, but sweet Elaine, she saw. After worship that day, she came up to me during coffee hour, placed a gentle hand on my arm, and in her sweet 89-year-old voice said, “I felt it too. Sometimes God just shows up in church like that. Everything falls together and I feel the Holy Spirit like I feel the wind blow in my hair.”
And then I hugged her. And the tears started once again. I felt seen—not only by Elaine, but by God. In that moment, she reminded me that I’m not alone in whatever it is I’m going through. In that moment, she saw me, in a way that I hadn’t felt seen since I first moved to Massachusetts several years before. In that moment, she was the living, breathing, hand of God that I needed to feel wrapped around me.
Now that sweet old lady has left this world. She is resting firmly in God’s presence and has left us all behind, and her body will one day return to dust. But she will forever remain in my heart.
Elaine, Beloved Child of God, may you rest in peace my friend. I will miss you. Until we meet again.
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