A Work of Churches of Christ

CHILDREN:

A SOURCE OF LOVE AND WISDOM

 

When I was a young college student at Oklahoma Christian University, I was asked to conduct my first funeral service. I was extremely nervous and distraught about taking part in such an important event.  I was particularly troubled with this funeral because it was to be the memorial service for my Aunt Charlotte. It would have been hard enough to stand before a family member that had passed from this life being assured salvation and eternal peace, but in Aunt Charlotte's case, she died not believing in the existence of God or His Kingdom.

 

I was going to have to deliver a memorial service for Aunt Charlotte knowing that she would never find the eternal peace that comes from knowing the Almighty God and His Son, Jesus Christ. I discussed my dilemma with several professors and mature Christians. I was given some good advice. The most important advice was not to preach my Aunt Charlotte to heaven. This was hard advice to take, but I knew that it was founded in the truth.

 

I arrived at the funeral home several hours early so that I could pray and review my thoughts over and over again. As the time arrived for me to walk out in front of the assembly, I realized something that I had not thought of until then: Every one at the funeral was going to be an atheist! I asked God for peace and wisdom and I asked Him to show the way. I walked out and I was amazed at the crowd of 300. There were men wearing T-shirts with inappropriate pictures and words for any assembly. l could smell the alcohol on many of the people. I was relieved when I had finished my presentation without a glitch. What happened next opened everyone's eyes and pricked even the hardest hearts.

 

My 6 year-old cousin quickly jumped in front of everyone and ran over to her mother's casket. Judy kissed her mother and placed a slip of paper in her hands. Judy quickly ran over to me and latched on to my leg.  I looked down at her and she smiled at me, as if to let me know that she would be okay. I glanced over at the slip of paper in her mother's hands and it would be an understatement to say that I was a little curious. Judy tugged at my sleeve and she told me that

 

if I wanted to I could read it. I walked over and took the paper from Aunt Charlotte’s hands. I then opened the slip of paper and realized it was a note that Judy had written in a red crayon at school. After reading the note to myself and attempting to gather my thoughts, 1 asked Judy if I could read the beautiful message to everyone that was there. She smiled and said, “If you think it will help.”

 

I decided that whether the people sitting there wanted to hear it or not, I was going to read the note from his little girl to her mother. It simply said, “MOMMY I LOVE YOU AND I WILL SEE YOU AS SOON AS GOD IS THROUGH WITH ME.” The 300 people sitting there might not have believed in God before they walked through the doors at the funeral home,, but I guarantee everyone at that second In their lives believed with all their heart. There was not a dry eye in the assembly. This 6 year-old child had just taught us more in one simple sentence than I could have in a 45-minute speech. These words were amazing on their own, but one has to be in awe at the wisdom and power that had been shown in this little girl that had been raised to not believe in God. After reading the note to the assembly, I noticed that Judy had began to cry. She looked up at me and asked, “Do you think that Momma will be mad at me?”

 

I asked her why would her mother be mad at her because that was the sweetest note that 1 had ever heard. This little girl looked into my eyes and with love in her soul she replied, “Do you think Momma will be mad at me because I will never see her again? Momma can't be in heaven with God and me. She didn't believe.'' Be careful the next time that you try to tune a child out or tell them to stop talking, you might be missing out on bits of wisdom and love from God.

 

Here is a passage to think on: Matthew 18:3-6: “Assuredly, 1 say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one ' little child like this in My name receives Me.

 

— 1 —

 

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

 

Serving a Living Savior,

Vendall W. Dollarhlde

 

A Special Tribute to Bobbie Clark

 

Bobbie Clark has been one of our most faithful, hard- working volunteers for over twenty-five years. She began working with us in the early years of Mission Printing and has remained a valuable asset to this work ever since. Bobbie has been in charge of sending out memorial cards and addressing and mailing our news- letter, To The Ends of the Earth. Recently, she retired from Mission Printing due to increasing health problems. We were saddened to hear of her decision and will miss her greatly. Her long-term dedication to helping us send the saving Word of God to the mission field has been inspiring and uplifting to all of us. She has been a very special part of our Mission Printing family, and her positive attitude and kind spirit will certainly be missed. We hope and pray that her health will improve in the coming weeks and months and that she may be able to help us again sometime in the future. Mission Printing is very grateful for all the many good works done by Bobble and we want to say a special “Thank You'' for her service for all these years. May the Lord continue to bless and keep her.

 

IN MEMORY

 

Jack Aldriedge

Irene Aldriedge

Charles & Dorothy Jones

Bob & Dorothy Fry

 

Lavada Anderson

Andy & Alice Bennett

Jessie Lee Caskey

Lorene McLeroy

Odeal Pearcy

Charlie Ruth Rountree

James & Kathy Lakey

Marguerite Malone

Alice Walker

Nelda Sheldon

Ernest & Norma Coker

Grady & Ruth Paul

 

John Barnes

Grady & Ruth Paul

 

Margaret Beall

Curtis & Wilma Bradshaw

Virgil & Virginia Brown

John & Juanita Teague

 

Edna Bergstrom

Grady & Ruth Paul

 

Bluntt Blackman

Roy & Helen Thomas

 

J. T. Blackstone

Hans & Mary Wasner

 

Ruby Bowman

Friends at Mission Printing

Harold & Theda Walling

 

Chauncey Bradford

Norma & Ernest Coker

 

Harriet Burgess

John & Oleta Jennings

 

Eleanor Carroll

Grady & Ruth Paul

 

Warren Carrol

Irene Aldriedge

Bob & Shirlee Cruse

 

Guy Caskey

George & Edith Philley

Jess & Ann Lewellyn

 

Madge Cheairs

Doris & Janie Walker

Dean & Joy Webb

Hazel Fallis

Clarence & Elizabeth Shelfer

Julie Cameron

Bonnie Duvall

Vera Lou Gleghorn

Jean Haddock

Maudie Hall

Lorene Kerns

Nora Phillips

Lorina Reed

Dot Smith

Mary Wise

Dorothy Witt

Garldean Latham

 

Judy Cole

Grady & Ruth Paul

 

Dorothy Crone

Hubert & Walterrene Hartin

Norma Jean Dunn

Ernest & Norma Coker

Cutah Richardson

Jessie Lee Caskey

Nelda Sheldon

Jessie Hiltibidal

Jack Dunson

Shirley Inglis

Bobbie Clark

Kathy Ellington

Roy & Helen Thomas

Hans & Mary Wasner

Lois Elder

Hazel Fallis

Charlie England

Roy & Jettie Vincent

Melvin & Pearl Brown

 

— 2 —

 

Veral Gentry

Emery & Ann Zene Cathey

Nell Cook

Roy & Reba Kinslow

Robert & Margaret Parrish

Loy & Kaye Pressley

John & Frances Snyder

 

Dana Gode

Virgil & Virginia Brown

Angie Brown

Cecil & Nancy Taylor

Louise Caskey

Jessie Lee Caskey

Robert & Beth Fultz

Naomi McKeever

Curtis & Wilma Bradshaw

Guenther & Vernell Maenius

Brian Maenius

John & Juanita Teague

Alice Walker

Reid & Tot Holmsley

Mallie Bailey

Jackson & Linda Dunn

Juanita Graf

Jack & Zeffie Beard -

Roger & Mary Lynn Smith

Janice Hardaway

Donal & Sarah Stringer

Bennie Bynum

Ernest & Gail Bennett

Janie Durham '

Vivian McCall

 

Jo Gore

Paul & Lucille Mcclung

 

Malcom Grant

Morris & Melba Guthrie

Perry B. Cotham

 

Sally Gray

Grady & Ruth Paul

 

Frances Green

Mary Nell Lipscomb

 

Jessie Green

Al & Brenda McCalip

 

Thurman Gunter

Grady & Ruth Paul

Marguerite Malone

 

Elsie Harvey

Marguerite Malone

Grady & Ruth Paul

 

David M. Henderson

Emery & Ann Zene Cathey

Johnnie Dry

John & Frances Snyder

Loy & Kaye Pressley

Roy & Reba Kinslow

Charles & Kay Gaskill

 

 

Maggie Holland

Mary Knowles

Ruth Pope

Cleo & Judy taker

Jessie Lee Caskey

Joyce Brimmer

Doris McKee

 

Mildred Hubbard

Doris McKee

 

Dorothy Jones

Ernest & Norma Coker

Cutah Richardson

Alice Walker

Bobbie Clark

Larry & Olene Rabeck

Estelle Smith

Dorothy Hall

Morris & Melba Guthrie

Artie Loo & Mary Fitzgerald

Stewart & Dorothy Whittington

Nelda Sheldon

Charles & Dorothy Jones

Lorene McLeroy

David & Karen Hobby

 

Wendell Jones

Jessie Lee Caskey

Bobbie Clark

Alice Walker

Hazel Fallis

Jess & Ann Lewellyn

Ernest & Norma Coker

H. H; Rhode

Calvln & Betty Hammons

Bob & Dorothy Fry

Lorene McLeroy

Cutah Richardson

 

Fannie Jordan

Bobbie Clark

 

Leonard Kelsoe

Randy & Kim Aldriedge

Irene Aldriedge

 

Lucille Keith

Lorene McLeroy

 

Charlotte Knight

Curtis & Wilma Bradshaw

 

Ilia Kimbrell

Morris & Melba Guthrie

 

Edith Ladd

Hazel Fallis

 

Zay LeFevre

Perry B. Cotham

 

Harry Loftis

Pauline Jones

 

 

Daisy Lucariello

Friend; at Handley C. of Christ

Hans & Mary Wasner

 

Polly Lusk

Bob & Shirley Cruse

 

Virginia Lois Martin

Friends at Handley C. of Christ

 

Roy Mathis

Friends at Handley C. of Christ

Alice Walker

Grady & Ruth Paul

 

Penny Maxwell

Paul & Lucille Mcclung

 

Rubye McKeown

Emery & Ann Zene Cathey

Nell Cook

Roy & Reba Kinslow

Robert & Margaret Parrish

Loy & Kaye Pressley

John & Frances Snyder

 

Ruby Middleton

Emery & Ann Zene Cathey

Nell Cook

Roy & Reba Kinslow

Robert & Margaret Parrish

Loy & Kaye Pressley

John & Frances Snyder

 

Barbara Miller

Friends at Handley C. of Christ

 

Millie Mills

Emery & Ann Zene Cathey

Johnnie Dry

John & Frances Snyder

Loy & Kaye Pressley

Roy & Reba Winslow

Charles & Kay Gaskill

 

Claebom Moore

J.Y & Jackie Johnson

 

J. D. Moore

Grady & Ruth Paul

 

Muriel Moore

Grady & Ruth Paul

 

Almeta Morris

Ernest & Norma Coker

Jessie Lee Caskey

Nelda Sheldon

Jessie Hiltibidal

Cutah Richardson

Lorene McLeroy

 

Lloyd Moulder

Alma Arterburn

Bruce & Mary Carroll

   Roy & Evelyn Ballëw

- 3 -

 

Keith Naylor

Marguerite Malone

Grady & Ruth Paul

 

J. W. Nelson

Hubert & Walterrine Hartin

 

Dorothy Oliver

Hazel Fallis

 

Neal Oliver

Nelda Sheldon

 

Juanita Person Palmore

Dr. T. J. Walker

Alice Walker

Bobbie Clark

 

Hazel Parrish

John & Francis Snyder

Nell Cook

John Spence

Roy & Reba Kinslow

Emery & Ann Zene Cathey

Johnnie dry

Loy & Kaye Pressley

Alice Walker

Scherry Braziel

Landon & Kristi Williams

 

Carol Prindle

Hazel Fallis

 

Jean Purselley

Robert & Mozelle Brooks

 

Dianne Reynolds

Bob & Shirlee Cruse

 

Monty Reynolds

Lorene McLeroy

Alice Walker

 

Guthrie Sanders

Marguerite Chanslor

 

Bill Sarratt

Charles & Dorothy Jones

 

Albert Scott

Dorris & Janie Walker

Dean & Joy Webb

J.C. & Dessie Ross

 

John (Jack) Seiple

Roy & Helen Thomas

Bettye Shockley

Perry Cotham

 

Edward Steph

Lorene McLeroy

 

Jim Strong

James & Kathy Lakey

 

Moneda Sutterfield

Curtis & Wilma Bradshaw

 

Laverne Thompson

Roy & Jettie Vincent

 

Betty Vincent

Bob & Shirlee Cruse

Bob & Sue Herriage

Ovilla Church of Christ

 

Winston & Jeanne Wells

Grady.& Ruth Paul

 

Gene West

Emery & Ann Zene Cathey

Nell Cook

Roy & Reba Kinslow

Robert & Margaret Parrish

Loy & Kaye Pressley

John & Frances Snyder

 

Clint Whirley

Hubert & Walterrene Hartin

Bill & Onnie Newton

 

Bill Whitfield

Bob & Shirlee Cruse

 

Corona Wilson

Thomas & Betty Conyers

 

Agie Wooten

Roy & Jettie Vincent

 

Jane Yeldell

Roy & Jettie Vincent

Bill & Onnie Newton

 

** ** ** ** ** ** **

 

Birthday Honors

 

100th Birthday

 

Myrtle Moore

Bill & Eileen Graves

 

Mala Randolph

Alma Arterburn

Bruce & Mary Carroll

 

 

Honors

 

Ann Blair

Julie Watson

 

Marguerite Malone

Julie Watson

 

Jean Kevil

Irene Aldriedge

 

Susan Lauderdale

Irene Aldriedge

 

Ken Smithson

Irene Aldriedge

 

Patti Spires

Irene Aldriedge

 

Cathy Thut

Irene Aldriedge

 

Ken Weatherford

   Irene Aldriedge