Daily Devotions
A Brief Tribute to Joan Cole
Reading for December 15th: 1 Timothy 1-6
Weekly reading for December 13-19: Revelation 6-11
And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
"Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
Revelation 7:14-15
Many of my readers didn't know Joan Cole, but today we will be gathering with our family from Embry Hills to remember her at her memorial service. She was a special lady. She sat behind us at church and our youngest, Katie, would often sit with her during services.
She had no children, yet she had lots of kids she could rightly call her own. For several years the high school class would come to her home for a brief devotion after Sunday evening services. When we moved from Atlanta, one of our kids' regrets was that they never got to go to a high school devotional at Ms. Joan's (we moved right before the twins were freshmen in high school).
When we met Joan she was introduced to us as a cancer survivor. (I believe she had been diagnosed about five years before we moved to Atlanta.) But the cancer came back. However, I refuse to say that she lost her battle with cancer. Yes, her physical body did not survive cancer, but she is very much alive. In fact, she's never been more alive than she is right now. Death has lost its sting. The grave has no power over her. Death has given her what she has prepared for her whole life to have. She is finally home.
Father, thank you for blessing us with Joan. Comfort us in our time of loss, but remind us on this day of what she has gained. And may we all learn something today.
