Miss June

I went to the funeral of a friend of mine today. Last fall my pastor told me about a little old lady who was in a wheelchair and homebound. He said she wanted someone to come to her house and have church with her. He asked me if I would be willing to do that and I told him,"No." That was my first thought and reaction, but as God would have it, before long my wife and I started making the 20 minute trip to Harker Heights to minister to "Miss June."
I remember for a few times we met, it was just Linda, me, and Miss June. Once I had to go by myself because Linda had another church she was speaking in and just one other person showed up. Thanks, Kim for being faithful in hearing God's call that morning.
The last meeting we had at Miss June's there were about 20 people there. She had a way of drawing people, speaking to them and challenging all of us. Even though she could barely speak and she was hard to understand, when she spoke, every word was worth hearing. She spoke once about geodes. She talked about her and her husband being "rock hounds" and how they would look for these beautiful geode crystals. She told us how it took incredible pressure to create them. She encouraged us to embrace the pressures of life, that they would eventually create beauty in us if we would just persevere.
Miss June didn't talk much, as it was very hard for her to speak. I can't think of a single time she spoke that she didn't have something deep or prophetic to speak to us. She told me not long ago that I was being too hard on myself. (I can get kindof transparent in church sometimes.) She spoke simply, "God loves you," to me. Wow. That's all I needed to hear that day....church over...
I painted a small painting for her that she put on the mantle of her fireplace, next to some priceless pieces of jade sculpture. (She had lots of one-of-a-kind sculptures from the east in her home.) I painted her a Mother's Day card and she put it up there as well. She liked my artwork and that was inspiration for me to paint more. Why? This lady was an artist too....trained by a renowned Texas artist, John Carter. She was no slouch...
She sang opera. She was on the Board of Regents at Central Texas College. She was a realtor...not just any realtor, mind you, she put possibly hundreds of real estate agents to work with the 2 offices she had in Killeen and Copperas Cove. She was one of the pioneers for businesswomen in central Texas. She was a mentor to many, a friend, and a giver. As much as she accomplished, as much as she did, she was humble, kind, and my friend. And she loved God. She considered me her pastor, and told my pastor, "I have a spiritual life again." That meant a lot for me to hear that. Miss June will be missed, but not for long. I know I'll see her again.