When I sit in church and look around at my fellow members I smile with memories and a recognition of kinship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. It is an amazing thing to me, after attending our church for over 30 years, how many saints have gone before us and yet how many still remain as more enter the fold.
When my husband, Neil, and I first joined our church there was a group of women who sat in the fourth pew from the front every Sunday. They were all single, elderly women, most with white hair. Some had lost their husbands years before and some only recently. Some had never been married. I remember particularly one tiny 70-something lady who I was surprised to learn had a career in the Army – an unusual choice for a woman of her day.
This dear group of women were a support system for each other during the week. At the end of each Sunday service as they stood in the pew when the words of the benediction were spoken they all joined hands. It was a beautiful image of the saints in heaven.
These were joyful women who loved the Lord. Some taught Sunday School and others attended or led circles of women studying God’s words. They helped each other and they helped the young mothers, as well. I miss each and every one of them.
Now 20 years later I look around the church and I see a newer group of saints and they are here in the same sweet sense of companionship and helpfulness to each other and to the body of believers in the church. What a blessing they are to all of us.
Of course, there has been the occasional widower or single elderly male but those were fewer yet no less dedicated to the functioning of the church than the women. And, yes all these years later we still have elderly male saints working among us.
The unique thing about this church and others on our islands is that many people have no relatives living close by because they moved here in their later years, possibly after retirement. That unique fact makes it essential that those in the church actually function fully as family members.
We are literally in the family of God and we must also act as brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces and children would if Mom or Dad or Aunt Dodie lived just down the street from us. When one of the saints becomes ill it is up to the family to take care of them. To bring soup, call the doctor for an appointment, or just make sure we pick up the medicine needed.
These tasks occasionally take up a great deal of time but mostly they can be a friendly text or phone call to make sure everything is OK.
These saints who have stood before us and volunteered their time for God’s work have impressed me throughout the years. Whether they come to the church in their 30s or their 70s, they give of themselves using the gifts God has blessed them with for His use in the kingdom.
Throughout the years as I watched these solitary saints, Neil and I would gather them together for special holidays. We have held dinners to enjoy the companionship of those in Ocean City without family on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. It has been a varied group over the years and it is always a blessing to share and have fellowship among those of us who are without family in the area.
It has been a joy, too, to miss those who are now with Jesus when we reminisce around the table each year. I see smiles and hear stories that make my heart warm. Such as are the saints of the Lord.
Since Neil and I retired, of course, we find we now have much more time to donate to the work of God’s kingdom. And, as we age, we are moving into that category of the elderly saints of the church. I can see that the younger couples are viewing us as we viewed those who blessed us in our younger years. We have some big shoes to fill.
God’s saints are everywhere and I work with others at the Food Cupboard. It is a joy to work with those who love the Lord and who are helping to provide for the needs of our community. God gives us diverse abilities and in our golden years we find we have the opportunity to use those abilities for His kingdom work.
What a joy to see the results of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection in the many hearts of these living saints among us.
ED. NOTE: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City. Email her at writerGoodGod@gmail.com.
