Amy was given a middle name that suited her.

Amy found joy in everything.

Amy is still giving joy to us all – joy was and is part of her life.

At life’s every turn the joy of Amy’s optimism was present.

Did others upset her?

SURE.

Joy prevailed.

Did life throw Amy more than a few curves?

Undeniably.

Joy prevailed.

This life was never about Amy. For Amy this life was about others. If Amy saw a need – Amy found joy in meeting it.  Where did this bedrock of internal joy come from as Amy encountered life’s failings in herself and others?

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” Romans 12:12 INVUK

Exemplified even more so during Amy’s cancer battle.

Amy’s joy shining even brighter, emanating from Amy’s ever abiding trust in her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and His finished work in her.

Amy knew, and came to grips with, as her body was failing; that this place,

Earth,

was not her home.

Did Amy want to stay here a little longer?

Absolutely.

Yet not for herself; for us. Amy wanted to give us joy and comfort in the midst of her circumstances. Amy through word and deed conveyed,

“I will trust Him.”

We all witnessed this first hand, Amy constantly looked for the silver lining within the moments of her life, Amy’s voice echoing in my head and most likely yours too,

“God is going to heal me, here or in heaven, I will be healed.”

Amy knew this life, rarely had, or would give her the outcomes she wanted or expected. There were many things that brought Amy pain and heartache.  Life has and will cause us all pain and heartache.

John 16:33 AMP says, “In this world, you will have trouble”.

Though in Amy’s darkest days Amy’s undaunted joy would show through. Amy knew that there was more to her life than the here and now. These darkest days would pass into the joy of being home with her Rock, her Refuge, her Friend, Jesus.

Amy’s incessant joy on earth is today; a never-ending joy and bliss in eternity with Christ! Amy lived her life and is whispering to me, and maybe to you as well…

“Trust Him,
Know Joy,
Real Joy,
Trust Him,
Know Peace,
Real Peace,
Trust Him.
Have Hope,
Real Hope.”

Amy’s witness, at her most vulnerable – through the good, the bad and the ugly – has profoundly changed me. Especially now, in her absence, I look back in thankfulness for the life I was blessed to share with her.

Amy’s life, her strength, confidence and courage within and as the unexpected events of her life were revealed (cancer among them), and in spite of her questions…

Amy’s trust in Christ never waned, faltered or diminished.

Seeing Amy’s trust in Christ lived out has brought me to this: An indescribable, yet certain joy and peace, I, too, know now in my life. This life I, too, attained through resting in Christ’s finished work. Redemption accomplished on the cross, for all who trust in, abide in and rest in Christ alone.

When you think of Amy think of her joy, and when you think of her joy think of Christ, the giver and sustainer of Amy’s joy.

I leave you with this prayer, a prayer that Amy attested to through her words and actions before she went home. A prayer, Amy lived before us. Feel free to substitute your name in place of mine:

My dearest Greg, only God’s love through Jesus Christ to man exceeds – by infinity, of course – the love held between a woman and man. And yet in my marriage to you I feel I’ve experienced at least a sign of that highest love from you. You were instrumental in bringing me to faith. You were always there as we grew together. Know now, my dearest Greg, that as my keeping in the hands of God seems about to take me to eternity in His good will, your keeping in the hands of God on this shore can be no less firm. Know that I will always love you, dear Greg – that all the hosts of heaven, of whom I shall be one, will always be looking to comfort you and protect you. Read the Word, dearest Greg, let it speak to you. We shall one day be gathered together around His throne.

“(I) do not want you, says Paul, to be ignorant (concerning) those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope”. 1 Thessalonians 5:13.

All my love always and joy to the world the Lord has come,

Amy

Acknowledgements

My brother-in-law Chris without whom these Amy remembrances would not be possible.

My dear friend Steve Englehardt has been kind enough over the last several years to assist in helping me through my initial rough drafts on multiple occasions.