a prayer for nancy

Father, we gather today with sad but grateful hearts.  We thank you for the life of Nancy Brummette.  We thank you for the impact she has had on each one of us.  We thank you for her joy and her smile, her laughter and her love. We thank you for the way she gave herself so freely and so naturally.   We thank you for homemade rolls, and sweet nicknames, and driving kids to school.  We thank you for fast food runs, Sunday lunches, and always encouraging words. Thank you that she made each of us feel like we were the most important person in the world.  And I know this brought a huge smile to your face, for that is how you long for each of us to feel.  Thank you that when we were around her, it brought out the very best in each of us.  Thank you that she made us want to be better, more loving, more giving people.  May we always strive to be that for others.  Thank you for the warmth of her home, and how that always communicated the warmth of her heart; as well as the depths of her love for you. 

We also thank you that you are a God who always brings life from death.  That because of the resurrection, death does not have the final word, life does.  And thank you that she now resides with you in your unending embrace of love, with Charlie, her mom and dad, her brother and sister, her grandson, and other family and friends gone before.

And Father, please surround this family with your love that they may not be overwhelmed by their loss, but have confidence in your goodness in the midst of their pain.  I pray that they might meet the days ahead with courage and conviction; not sorrowing as those without hope, but in joyful expectation of eternal life with you, and all those they love, through the One who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.