My aunt Dolly passed away yesterday.
She was actually my great-aunt and after a long struggle with illnesses she finally went home to be with the Lord.
I didn’t know my aunt Dolly that well; most of my life she lived far away from me. I did spend some time with her in recent years, though, and I absolutely loved those interactions. She was a sassy old lady who was not afraid to speak her mind. I found her frankness refreshing and thoroughly enjoyed talking with her, even when I was the target of her sass.
I didn’t know aunt Dolly that well, but I knew that she had spent her life loving Jesus. Even while giving me some sass, she would talk about God and his faithfulness. I love listening to older people talk about God because all of his characteristics seem magnified in their lives.
I’ve experienced 33 years of God’s goodness; Dolly had 90 years of experiencing God’s goodness.
I’ve experienced 33 years of God’s faithfulness; Dolly had 90 years of experiencing God’s faithfulness.
I’ve experienced 33 years of God’s transforming work; Dolly had 90 years of experiencing God’s transforming work.
The nicest old people I know are people who have been faithfully following Jesus for a really long time. If we’re relatively young, we’ve only seen what following Jesus does to a person over a relatively short amount of time. If we take a larger sample size, though, then we really see what Jesus can do in someone’s life.
My grandpa, Dolly’s brother, is also in his 90s and still going strong. He has faithfully followed Jesus his entire life and I can see the difference it has made. He is gracious, kind, loving and concerned about future generations. He’s followed Jesus three times longer than I have, but he is exponentially more transformed. Following Jesus is like compounding interest: we get so much more out of it than we put in.
I thought about titling this post “Goodbye, Dolly,” but that didn’t seem very fitting. Because of her faithfulness to Jesus, I know that this isn’t the end and that some day I’ll once again say, “Hello, Dolly!”
What long-term impact of following Jesus have you seen in others?
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