Despite her chronic pain and multiple health issues, Lana always wore a smile. Not the kind you were sure was covering her real feelings, but the kind that told you the joy of the Lord really was her strength.
Nathan’s ministry at Stockport Christian Church began with the funeral service for Lana’s husband at the beginning of December. Lana continued to drive her motorized scooter the half-mile to church each Sunday, as long as it wasn’t storming or way below freezing. She was a faithful Sunday School attender who always had a hug for me. When it was too cold, we’d take communion to Lana and pray with her in her home. At the church Christmas party she ended up giving us her White Elephant gift because she was happy to share, and it was easier than driving it home on her scooter.One evening Nathan and I had the pleasure of taking dinner to share with Lana. She told us about moving out East, meeting her husband, and returning to rural Iowa. She told us about the trouble that had come with some of her health issues, and the change Jesus had brought in her life. Every day it was evident that Jesus was the source of Lana’s joy, regardless of her situation in life.
Late in the summer Lana moved into an assisted living facility some distance away. She was now too far away to be with us every week for church and her joy faltered. She soon became very ill and was hospitalized. Less than a year after her husband’s death, Lana left to join him with Jesus.During her funeral, Nathan made a typical – almost cliché – comment. “Let us who remain carry on her legacy.” This ideal is meant to comfort any with survivor’s guilt. They are done living, but you are still here; let the things they cared about continue to live through you.
But how long? And how many legacies can I collect before I am more them than me anymore? I have seen more death in the two years I’ve lived here than in the twenty-five before that. How much should my daily life be influenced by the dead?
And then I remembered that there is one who was dead, but now lives again. We are really meant to live to honor the legacy left by Jesus. And if I really did live to honor the legacy of the faithful who have died in Christ, wouldn’t they lead me to live like Jesus anyway? Living Lana’s legacy is living Christ’s legacy because Lana lived Christ’s legacy.
Skip to content
