I want to take a moment to thank all of the new visitors who came here to my blog in the recent days. I know that many of you came to read my post about Mrs. Reba J. Jones of Pleasant Grove, AL. And I know that many of you have read the comments that have been exchanged in the comments section below that post. So, many of you know that Mrs. Reba did not survive Wednesday’s storm. And you know that a friend of a friend of Mrs. Reba’s Googled information about her status and stumbled upon my blog post, and that this individual then contacted Mrs. Reba’s friends to share the blog post with them. And that one of those friends of Mrs. Reba’s then left a comment for me as to what had happened to her…
Throughout Friday evening and Saturday morning, comments were exchanged between two dear friends of Mrs. Reba’s, Mrs. Reba’s youngest son, and myself. They shared with me things about this beautiful woman whose address label I discovered in our yard late Thursday afternoon. And what I discovered through their affectionate comments was this: Mrs. Reba was much loved by her friends and family; that she loved much…her family and her friends, and probably many others who came into contact with her; and that she was a devoted attendant of the Lord. My sadness at her passing is nothing compared to the sadness of her family and friends, and I respectfully send my thoughts and prayers to all who were close to Mrs. Reba. What an extraordinary thing that even in death, Mrs. Reba was able to reach out and touch other’s lives…
My humble thanks to Rhonda, Jeff and Tim for sharing their thoughtful words with me, and for sharing this marvelous and special journey. I’ll close with Psalm 91:1, which Rhonda used to close one of her comments:
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty
6 comments:
Yesterday's service for Reba went just like I thought it would. Filled with emotion and laughter of the things she used to do. It was a great honor for our Quartet to be able to sing for Mrs.Reba. We missed TIm singing with us but it was great being able to minister to him and his family. The Chapel was standing room only. Tuesday night hundreds stood in line in the rain to pay respects to the family. I ask my sweet wife to pray for me that I would not break down during this. She was faithful to do that and God honored her prayer.
Thank you again for your Blog. We may never know on this earth how many lives it will touch before its over.
In Christ Love,
Jeff
Jeff,
You are very welcome for the blog post. Again, I feared that my post was too public of a statement for what was such a private thing, but I just sincerely felt driven to find out what had happened to Mrs. Reba. I am glad that I did, for I may never have found out her fate, the shape of her beautiful life, and I wouldn’t have ever had the opportunity to communicate with you, Rhonda and Tim.
I was thinking about Mrs. Reba yesterday…thinking about you all (a day doesn’t go by that I don’t). I am glad to hear that so many loving people were there to honor her. And I am so glad that you and Rhonda were there for Tim and the rest of the Jones family.
I still feel the need to show my respects to Mrs. Reba. I have decided to make a donation to the American Red Cross in her honor, so that someone else may be helped. I also plan to return Mrs. Reba’s mailing label to nature. The day after I found her label in our roses, hours after I had posted the blog, I came into possession of two beautiful crepe myrtle trees. We will plant them to shade our front sidewalk. One of the trees will be planted for Mrs. Reba. Her address label will be buried in the roots of the tree.
My deepest regards,
Carol
Carol - I believe you know by now how much your story has touched us. We sincerely appreciate your following your heart to post your story. I want you to know it was the final catalyst in a long list of promptings to start my own blog. I've been so hesitant for years, but I now feel I can't restrain that feeling any longer. I invite you to read my first post at http://www.apublicblogbyaprivateperson.blogspot.com. If you would, please consider my posting a link to your blog in my next post so that I can fully tell the story and let others see how God has worked amidst the devastation from this storm. You can leave me a comment if you wish...I just don't want to link to your blog without your permission. I am so thankful God has put us together - I will forever consider you a friend. Rhonda
hey Carol. i was thinking about Reba today and was just wondering how the crepe myrtle was doing. Tim and his family are healing with time. We sang at a benefit in gadsden a couple of weeks ago for tornado victims. it was a special singing for Tim.
Jeff, funny that you mention the crepe myrtle...at the time that I planted the crepe myrtle in which I placed Reba's address label, I planted another crepe myrtle across from it. Both trees came from the same nursery (the local master gardners), both the same size/age (leggy adolescents), and neither had flower buds on them (wouldn't expect any until next year, since I planted them late spring). But when I saw your query this morning, I went out to take a closer look at the trees. Interestingly, Reba's tree has a lot more growth on it, and surprisingly, I found one tender little flower bud cluster forming on one of the top branches. So Jeff, Reba's crepe myrtle is doing great...is surpassing my first year expectations. I suppose I really shouldn't be surprised...
Oh, how wonderful that you all were able to sing here in Gadsden! I am sorry we missed it! I'll bet it was truly a beautiful benefit...and yes, very special.
Please give my regards to Rhonda, and to Reba's family.
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