Amy ---------------

   Today, Momma, Lai Lai (my little sister), and I drove to the Mennonite Pantry on the edge of our county to pick up a few groceries.  My family has been going there for ages.  It is a delightful place where they sell herbs, assortments of candies, flours, homemade goodies, and scrumptious soups and sandwiches.  For the past several years there has been a beautiful young woman working there named Amy -------.  Amy's loving spirit and genuine smile never failed to brighten our day whenever we came to buy flax seed or cowboy cookies.  Mom and I never knew her very well, but we did know that she made THE BEST sandwich at the Mennonite Pantry and that Christ shined so bright and clear from her being that her effect on those around was obvious.
   Knowing these things was enough to make my heart cry out in dismay upon seeing on the check out counter this afternoon a photo of Amy with a piece of paper lying next to it that read: "Amy --------.  Gone to be with God on May 29, 2011.  Car Accident." 
   "Mom, Mom!" ... Silence.  The young lady checking us out at the counter met our eyes as we turned our sad and questioning gaze towards hers.
   We asked her how it had happened and she gave us the following story:

   Amy was on her way to T-------- to teach her Sunday school class and crashed into a telephone pole that split in half and crushed most of her car. She had not been speeding.  The roads were dry.  She was, obviously, not intoxicated, and there was no animal or other driver involved in the accident.  They had been informed that Amy never braced herself for impact.  If she had done so, her leg would have been broken and her body tense and braced.  Yet, this was not the case.  The accident was not this young lady's cause of death.  She had passed before her car ever ran off the road. 
   Okay, so that's not unheard of, but she died of "natural causes" - no heart attack, no stroke, nothing.  She was just gone.  And with tears of joy I can share with you that we are certain of where she is, right now, at this very moment.  For, everyone that saw her face (from those who removed her from the car to those that prepared her for her burial) said that they (despite the partial disfigurement from the car's impact) had never seen a face more full of pure joy, awe, and wonder.
  ...My friends, it was simply time for her to go home.  Our Father wanted her with Him.  She sees Him now, face to face, in perfect joy and wholeness.  Amy is continuing to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. 

   LORD, thank You for Amy.  I know she is missed greatly.  So, be with those who must miss her very much.  If a family who only saw her a few times a year feels a great loss at her leaving this world, I cannot imagine her family's pain. 
  Thank You for Your promise of Heaven and how You have confirmed it to me and my Mom today.  I long to see Your face.  May Your named be glorified even though we cannot understand Your ways.  Amen.