We drove down for Cora's memorial service on Tuesday. It was both beautiful and heartbreaking. When I saw her little casket, I broke down. It just wasn't fair. Family members wore pink in honor of Cora - a sweet touch.
The service started with a slide show of pictures of Cora and her family. I am sure there wasn't a dry eye in the entire church. The pastor did an amazing job. He read scriptures that gave assurance that Cora was in heaven with Jesus. He read letters written to Cora by her grandparents, aunts and uncles. Joel and Jess had written a letter to Cora and one of Cora's uncles read that - another tearful moment, but so precious. We sang "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord" by Matt Redman. I couldn't sing this part:
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name
Not because I don't believe these words, but because they were too painful to sing at the time. The words are so true. It is a CHOICE to praise God even when we don't understand why He took Cora away.
Cora's body was buried in a simple, beautiful, country cemetery. It seemed the perfect setting. At the burial service, the pastor told Cora's family about a tradition some people had of remembering those who had passed away. It was based on the scripture:
2 Corinthians 5:8 (King James Version)
8We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
The pastor went on to explain that these people would say the name of the person who had died and then everyone would say altogether, "Present." This signified that even though their loved ones were gone from this earth, they were present right now with Jesus in heaven. The pastor closed the burial service by saying "Cora Paige McClenahan" and we answered altogether, "Present."
Afterwards, we were able to talk to the family. Something I will probably remember forever is my brother hugging Joel and both of them sobbing. Why did this have to happen? I hugged Jessica and told her that she was an incredible mom. I also told her that she looked beautiful. She did - the peace of God was clearly evident on her face.
Cora's grandparents invited everyone at the burial service to come over to their home. I thought this was an incredible act of service on their part. In their pain, they were still able to open their home and serve OTHERS!
Please continue to pray for this family. The hardest days are yet to come as they learn how to live without Cora.
Click on this link to read Cora's obituary: http://www.thekansan.com/obituaries/x545176829/Cora-Paige-McClenahan
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
2 comments:
Thank you for sharing that, Heidi. It sounds like it was a beautiful service, and I am in awe of the faith and peace that Cora's family has. We will continue to keep them in our prayers. We have been praying for your family as well - they need good friends to lean on.
Thanks sweetheart. Great job capturing the mood of the day. I thought about writing something, but you have already done an amazing job of it. I told someone the funeral...the day...was "tragically beautiful."
I think of Joel and Jess and Cora all the time.
Post a Comment