Thursday, December 17th, 2020
On Thursday my Pastor Johnson came over so we could plan out the funeral service. Our goal for our time together would be to select the 3 readings and 3 hymns. Close to my heart had already been Psalm 139:13-14. “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” I included that in the obituary I wrote up for Maisie. So we perfectly already had a Psalm for the service. Our old testament reading we picked came from Isaiah 25:6-9, we felt it was basically describing the party that heaven will be, followed by the declaration that God would swallow up death forever and wipe away tears from all faces! Our next reading was from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 which we liked because it helped clarify that the dead in Christ will rise first, followed by those still alive, and we will meet the Lord together in the air! Those who have gone before us aren’t second-class passengers; they are in fact first class. Finally, Ryan throughout this time was really comforted by Mark 10:13-16 where Jesus says “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” Now in regards to baptism, we weren’t able to baptize Maisie. You can’t just go around baptizing dead bodies thinking they will be saved; their soul is already gone. I told Pastor I was uneasy about this. I didn’t think God would let anything bad happen to Maisie, I know she is with Him. But I missed that assurance of baptism I was able to give my other kids when they were newborns. Pastor reassured me that God heard my prayers for Maisie, but I never prayed for her salvation! I just prayed for baby to grow big and strong and be born without any complications. I didn’t think to pray if she died that she would be saved! But Pastor reminded me that the Holy Spirit intercedes and prays for us on account of things we forget or don’t know to pray for. This gave me comfort. Plus, Pastor said, “Even if you didn’t pray for Maisie’s salvation, I did.” And of course God is a loving, just, and kind God. Maisie was protected. A week or so later too, I actually realized I did pray for Maisie to get to heaven each night as we said, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. God bless: Mama, Dada, Isla, Lachlan, Baby, etc.”’ As far as hymns, we were in the Christmas season and “What Child is This?” had been in my head. So boom, that was our first pick. I realized later too another reason this was probably in my head is because it is the tune “Greensleeves”, which was part of our song collection in my Music Together class the previous semester. So it was a tune Maisie would have been very familiar with. We picked the other hymns from a list of hymns that are recommended for funerals. Pastor Johnson and I signing them out for Ryan to remember what they sounded like. “I am Jesus’ Little Lamb” seemed perfectly sweet for the funeral of a baby. We also picked “The Lord’s My Shepard, I’ll Not Want”. Another song that seemed simple and sweet ending with the phrase… And in God’s house forevermore my dwelling place shall be. Overall, it was a really pleasant time with to be with Pastor Johnson. We had been communicating with him throughout this entire process. But it was a special time filled with hope as we sifted through God’s word to create our service to remember Maisie and the hope she was given through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. #maisiemarthaofsthun Published 1/19/2021
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AuthorMother. Jesus Lover. Mourner of my stillborn Maisie Martha Ofsthun. Archives
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