I recently read a story about a little boy who had just learned about inches in school. He and his family were going on a road trip to Capetown and he wanted to know how many “inches it was to Capetown.” Well, the family lived in Durban, which is 1750 kilometers from Capetown!! The Mom tried to convince him that he shouldn’t measure such long distances with such a small measurement, but he was determined to know the inches!
I was struck with how we do the same thing – we view our life and our circumstances with what we know and understand – our own little measuring stick…
All the while God is using a whole different ruler! 🙂 It makes me wonder how God measures time and circumstances – from star to star? From century to century? I was challenged by this story to try and measure my life with an eternal God-perspective.
In our last newsletter I wrote about my dear friend, Beauty and her fight with cancer. She lost that fight. She passed away on November 7, 2012. I spent 4 hours with her that evening before she died… washing her, singing to her, laughing over memories of our silly times together. Beauty was unconscious, but would still sometimes lift her eyebrows when I spoke to her. I think she could still hear me. She passed away about an hour after I left. My friend, Jade, was with her… she gently slipped into Jesus’ arms. No crying, no pain, no fear… God’s ruler. I know she has been healed using God’s measuring stick.
I missed her funeral because I was in the states tending to my sick father. This is the eulogy that Carl read on my behalf:
I greet you all in the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have asked Carl to read this on my behalf as I am with my father who is not well in America. I am sad to not be there in person to honour my precious friend Beauty, but I hope that you hear in my words today how much I loved and respected Keketso Beauty Ndosi.
Beauty. my sister. my friend. she loved to make me laugh. she loved to give me guilt trips about not making her enough brownies, for not buying her the pizza she wanted, or for not calling her back because I was often out of airtime. In fact, a couple of months ago, she bought me airtime because she said I was out too often! 😉
I have known Beauty for 4+ years, but our friendship deepened when two things happened. The first was when she got married. She asked me to walk with her and help her to be a Godly wife. The second was when her illness started getting worse. I went to many doctor’s appointments, visited her in the hospital, and helped her understand her chart when we would “steal” it away to read the doctor’s notes. Beauty was a fighter. She really wanted to beat this cancer. Many times she and I would have conversations about her 3 boys, and she would say “this cancer can’t win. My boys need me. No one else can raise them like I can.” She was not willing to give up. All the way up to the very end. She never lost hope.
But God had a different plan for Beauty and a different plan for her dear boys. He did not forsake her nor did her forsake her children. He promises NEVER to forsake. Beauty knew that promise well. One of her posts on FB last year during a challenging time with her health read like this,
“through all the changing circumstances of life,Lord,in joy as well as sorrow,my heart will sing your praises and thank you for the abundant life that you have made possible for me. Amen”
Beauty had experienced her share of pain and sorrow on this earth. God saw fit to remove that pain. I thank Him for that. Even though every time I see a picture of Beauty, my heart aches. I miss her so much, I know that her pain is gone and she is at peace.
This text reminds me of Beauty.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Fixing our eyes on what is eternal. Beauty has that eternal vision now. Another FB post of Beauty’s quoted this verse,
“Bless the LORD,O my soul,and forget not all his benefits,who forgives all your iniquity,who heals all your diseases.”Amen””
He has healed her. Not exactly in the way we were all hoping, but she now has her eternal healing. I am so looking forward to seeing her again, to laughing with her, and being silly with her. At a women’s retreat she and I attended together, she wrote me this note, “I hope we can be as good of friends in heaven as we are on earth.” I am truly looking forward to experiencing friendship with my dear friend again once we are all reunited with Jesus!
I had started on a tribute book for Beauty when she was still here with us. She knew I was making the book and gave me some instructions on what she wanted in her book. It is a book that highlights who she was and how she lived. It is for her boys. So they won’t forget their amazing mom. I am sorry I don’t have it here today. It was printed in America, so I will be bringing it back with me when I come.
I miss you Beauty. Lala kahle until we meet again.
What a wonder you are dear daughter. Such a beautiful testament to god and friends!