How are you, Eleanor?

Last Friday I attended the funeral of longtime church member, Eleanor Brooks. She and her husband, Al, moved up here in the early 1940s right at the beginning of the colonization of Alaska. She had many wonderful stories of how Palmer has changed over the years and of the many adventures she and Al went on. Al passed away a number of years ago so I never knew him but seeing pictures of the two of them together you can tell just how much they loved each other.

Anyway, the thing I admired most about Eleanor was her heart simply because it belonged to God alone. For the longest time, she was the oldest member of the Evangelism board. She always found a way to talk to people about Jesus-- no matter the circumstance or the hour. She was the best at writing personal notes to visitors and her handwriting was impeccable! In fact, I got cards from her that were simply meant to encourage me and my ministry. When Al died, she repeatedly told Pastor Rockey that the funeral service shouldn't be about Al, it should be about Christ. No tears only the Gospel. She said that if someone in that room didn't know who Jesus was and what He did before they entered the church, they should know after. That is how she lived her life and that is how she finished it too.

But perhaps the greatest thing that Eleanor ever did to open doors for Christ was her answer to the question, "How are you?" Now most of us (myself included!) blindly answer this question with the vague "fine" or "good" but not Eleanor. No, she opened the door for Christ with one simple word: "Thankful"

Makes you think, doesn't it? How much more could you be doing for Christ if you simply changed one little word in your vocabulary? Try to be thankful today and every day not only for yourself but also for Christ.