a funeral "first"

Today we celebrated the life of my Aunt Louise at a service for her in Clayton. Believe it or not, at my cousin Dianne's request, I ended up conducting the service. This was certainly a first for me!! I think I won the honor simply because I don't mind getting up and talking in front of a large group of people, but nonetheless, I was truly honored. Dianne was unable to get in touch with the man who had conducted my uncle's service, so since I was going to be singing anyway, Dianne just asked that I open the service, pray, sing, read Scripture, and close the funeral. In between that, Dianne gave a very touching, honest, compelling tribute to her mother that I truly believe was a blessing to everyone there. Aunt Louise had threatened us last year, after her husband's funeral, that if we ever made her out to be a saint, she would come back to haunt us, so of course, we respected her wishes! So my favorite moment was when Dianne shared how Aunt Louise struggled with depression and how the Lord taught her to have victory over it so that she didn't spend her entire life in that battle. I know this story alone ministered to many. All in all, I believe it was a service that was just what Aunt Louise would have wanted.