“I glanced out the window just in time to see my yellow cat about to have one of our new little chicks for lunch. I had to do something, but there wasn’t time to rescue the baby chick from the jaws of our cat. I looked around and spied my husband’s 22 rifle. I grabbed it, and aimed for that big yellow head and pulled the trigger.

I took a deep breath and looking up I fully expected to see that cat laid flat. Instead I heard a strange hissing sound. Low and behold I had shot my husband’s back truck tire clean through. Now he was gone hunting and I had no clue how I was going to break it him.”

Today I attended the funeral of a dear friend, and the above entry was paraphrased from one of the many stories recorded in her journal. She was one amazing lady. Lois was one of thirteen children born and raised in Oklahoma. Her family were all sharecroppers, together they survived the depression. “We were a loud happy family,” she wrote in another entry. I listened delighted as her daughter shared many precious moments of her mother’s life.

“Momma’s education ended at the age of thirteen, but you would never have known,” her daughter continued. She was a powerful story writer, and her ability to articulate her thoughts was a thing of beauty. As story after story were shared of this great woman’s life, I laughed and cried along with her five children, twenty-five grandchildren, fifty-three great grandchildren and many friends.

Now she may not have been a success according to the world’s standards…standards that seemed to pale quickly as heads nodded in unison and tears flowed freely down the faces of the friends and family, who had gathered to celebrate her life and the legacy she left behind.

Lois was married twice and had children from both marriages; and one of the most beautiful lessons she ever taught her children was a lesson on unity. See Lois never entertained the philosophy of half brothers and sisters and she didn’t let anyone else either. She always said “there are no halves here, just one big whole happy family.”

Lois was a woman of great faith. Lois lived a powerful on purpose life… a life that she dedicated to her Savior. I love you Lois and I am a better person for having known you.

When all is said and done what will they say about you?

“You are on this planet for only a short while…so let the part you play be remembered as part of a legacy of sharing dreams, building up and believing in others, and changing humanity for the better. Leave a legacy of living life on purpose…for a legacy like this will live on forever.”

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