Mimi Williams wins the Gold!

Today there is a massive celebration in heaven, and the agony of defeat in hell.  One more soul has lived for God up until her last dying breath and left this miserable planet earth to be with her Father in Heaven - a place where she always wanted to be.

Mimi Williams was a member of our church on Shepherd Drive, and loved - absolutely loved coming to services.  Well into her 80's, she'd climb the long staircase to attend the week-day services and would pray and listen as fervently as anyone.  When an odd prescription by her doctor caused her diabetes to go off the charts, she was sent to the hospital and before anyone knew what was happening, both her legs were amputated.  Her daughters were in control of her finances and medical treatment, so very little was made known to us, her church family, about her treatment.  Mimi still prayed, still loved the visits that we and the Caleb Group made to her nursing home.  She missed her church dearly.

We encouraged her, prayed for her, but life was not enjoyable any more, even though the staff was kind, and for all we could see, cared for her well.  I remember the last time I saw her sensing that it would be better for her to go home to God rather than just endure an existence where she could no longer read her Bible well - her eyesight had begun to fail - to walk, to cook her favorite meals, to visit her myriads of grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Houston and Louisiana.  Was it mean spirited of me to think this way?

C.S. Lewis has a funny line about hell promoting it's own propaganda that the world has fallen for: that a successful life is living in comfort well into a ripe old age, and that dying young is a tragedy.  But not in God's eyes. A true tragedy is when hell gains one more soul to devour in eternal suffering. On the other hand, living in faith, in submission to Jesus as Lord until the last moment of life, is the definition of success.  If it ends during youth, in wartime, in a sudden accident, or in a nursing home, all heaven rejoices to welcome the victor.  And conversely, all hell is writhing in pain, in the knowledge that it lost one more soul to the Enemy.  Now that's a resounding success!

So for sweet Mrs. Mimi, I shed no tears.  Why should I cry along with hell when I could be rejoicing with heaven?