The sun broke through the clouds as the long car pulled up into the church driveway. The team of men in black suits came out, carrying the coffin to the designated area outside. I watched as one of them began taking the flowers from the people who came and layering them on the white dress. 

One by one, a beautiful array of flowers formed. It was my turn to come up, and as I offered my bouquet, I couldn’t help but marvel at the bittersweet picture that lay before me. 

The dear old lady had lived through thick and thin. Her 94 years were full of war, heartache, Holodomor hunger and pain. Her back ached and her health was weak. Her hands were both tough and gentle from the many years of toil in the garden and good deeds for those around her. Her body and soul had ached for home for a long time, and a sense of peace filled the atmosphere as we stood around that coffin and said our last goodbyes. 

Yet as I looked at her frail hands, solemnly crossed and surrounded by flowers, I knew that my family had lost something much more precious than a sweet old lady who’d smile upon seeing us. We’d lost a warrior; one who’d prayed for us every. single. night. One who’d stood before the Lord, in sickness and in health, praying over every aspect of our lives. We knew that even as her memory had begun to fail her, she’d still remembered our names and faithfully lifted them to our Father. Her hands would be crossed in prayer position for the better part of the day as she fought the battle behind the closed doors of her home. 

She wasn’t known worldwide as a great evangelist. Her name hadn’t made it to headlines of newspapers across the country. She didn’t teach large classrooms or disciple multitudes; but she knew her place in the Kingdom as she faithfully served from the heart, humbly and quietly praying for those on the frontlines… 

I looked again at the coffin. The flowers around the still body in the white dress seemed to be saying something important. 

Right then, I finally understood the picture. It wasn’t just their bright colors that stood out; it was because they were alive.  

The 94 years had played their role and done their part; while the beautiful fruit of their labor lived on…