Amy's Mission
Amy usually tells us when she's been exceptionally busy at the funeral home and about families she's visited with. She's been told not only by staff, but by family members what a good job she's done and how sweet/well/at peace their loved one looks. Amy's very good at all of it, and especially skillful with the cosmetics and that preparation.
So it has made me have some second thoughts about the two most usual ways that funeral directors prepare a person - cremation or embalming. Of course, there is always the option of both - embalming and cremation - but I think that may be rare. Paul and I have thought for some time we would be cremated when that time comes, not too soon, I hope. Mama was cremated - it was her choice. And we four kids all had to agree to that in writing (maybe a Mississippi law), and we did, to honor her wishes. You hear about cremation more now than you used to. But when you really think about it, whatever that person endured or suffered, or even if they went very peacefully and quickly, there is the matter of that final picture you have of him or her in your mind. So when people tell Amy how sweet their loved one looked, or how peaceful, or pretty, or even "natural," and how much they appreciate what she did, she knows it is a comfort to them to be able to see their family member for the last time as they perhaps were in times past, as much as possible in that translated state, or most especially if they have fought a hard battle.
Amy is entrusted with the temple of the Holy Spirit in many cases, but in all cases, a loved one. She treats everyone tenderly and with love and has such compassion for their families. Once several years ago when she was a teenager, she surrendered to missions. Recently she told me, "If God had not put this thought in my head, I would never have had any idea to do this kind of work." So she is on His field, right there after those final battlegrounds.
No comments:
Post a Comment