Mission Nombre de Dios
Today is All Saint’s Day. I was raised Protestant and never gave All Saint’s Day a passing thought. I believed it was a Catholic holiday and I wasn’t Catholic, case closed. As I grew older, I began to think of All Saint’s Day as a day to be thankful for the saints who have passed through my life.
Dictionary.com defines a saint as a person of great holiness, virtue or benevolence. If I were to ask you what person or people in your life were most instrumental in pointing you to God, I’ll bet someone pops into your mind immediately. Many of us have been blessed with many saints along our way, those who always embodied the virtues of Jesus; you know those people who were always willing to share faith or show faith in their actions.
One of the saints in my life who I always say a special thanks for on All Saint’s Day, was my cousin Janice. She was more of a grandmother figure than cousin, and she was always at church. She and her husband Leonard, would come and pick up my sister and me for Sunday school every Sunday morning. My mother would meet us there for worship service. For some reason, Mom had a difficult time getting two little girls who were fifteen months apart and herself, ready and dressed in time for Sunday school. That was also back in the days where you had to have a huge Sunday dinner on the table immediately following church. I’m sure she was exhausted.
Anyway, Janice was always happy to help. She also directed VBS every year. She would line us up outside of church and march us in singing, “Onward Christian Soldiers.” She was always involved in putting the yearly Christmas Pageant together as well. I accompanied her on more than one occasion where she brought dust rags and mop buckets to clean the church and even then, we weren’t allowed to run in the sanctuary. “It was God’s house,” she explained. We were supposed to respect it. There were many other church events at that tiny country church from Easter Egg hunts to cookouts and Janice was always there.
She was also the one in our super large family who organized baby showers and wedding showers and helped the bride get dressed on her special day. When my grandaddy died, she was the first one at our house. She always had a smile on her face and loved to laugh. She went home to be with God close to twenty years ago and I still think of her every time I begin organizing VBS each year. I think of her every time I contemplate putting together the next Christmas play and I think of her on All Saint’s Day.
Janice was one of the many saints in my life who left permanent footprints on my heart. Her faithful example of Christ helped to inspire me to try to do the same. So today, I will say a prayer of thanks for Janice and for all of the saints who have helped point the way to Jesus and I will pray that God will help me to be a saint in someone’s life. What about you? Who do you have to be thankful for on All Saint’s Day? Who has helped you on your faith walk? How are you helping others? Feel free to share.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂