Miss Ev
I first met Miss Ev and her family when my husband became a minister at her church. I had never met a family quite like them before. Together they owned one of the most beautiful farms I have ever visited. Its entrance was a gently curving lane through immaculately-kept pastureland.
Branching off the main lane were other lanes leading to four homes, one for Miss Ev and her husband “Big John” and three for their adult children and their families. Their daughter and two sons worked together in a large business which Big John had started decades before and then handed off to his children to operate years before I met the family.
The farm was the place to be on the Fourth of July when the family hosted their Independence Day picnic on its covered bridge. Each of Big John and Miss Ev’s children and their spouses were actively involved in our church in a variety of ways–a lesson they learned from their daddy and mama.
Big John went home a year ago this last August. Lately Miss Ev has had twenty-four-hour in-home help. Then a couple of weeks ago, Miss Ev followed Big John home.
The next day I saw our friends James and Patsy. They told me about when Miss Ev and one of her caregivers came to see James in the hospital about a month ago. As soon as he got home, she and a caregiver came to see him at home, bringing the banana bread they had made together.
A large crowd was at the church when Ray and I arrived for the funeral visitation. We know four generations in this family and enjoyed visiting with them. Two of the homeschooled great-grandchildren, who have performed in several Homeschool Dramatic Society plays, warmed my heart with their sweet hugs.
Big John and Miss Ev’s children, who are now grandparents themselves, were rejoicing that their godly mother was now at rest. A son told us another story about their mother’s giving heart. The day before she died, she went to the nursing home to visit a mutual friend. The friend (I’ll call her Miss Jeanie) has been ill for several years and was telling Miss Ev how much she wanted to go on home. Miss Ev told her that God wasn’t ready for her to go yet and she would have to stay here. Early the next morning, Miss Ev went home herself.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love;
give preference to one another in honor;
not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
contributing to the needs of the saints,
practicing hospitality.
Romans 12:10
That was Miss Ev.