Norma Jean Lowe’s funeral was last Thursday. It was a hard one. It was not difficult to celebrate her life, because she led a life worth celebrating. It was easy to honor her memory because she left behind a memory that is honorable. The hard part came with saying, “goodbye, for now” to someone who has been so special to so many.

Bill and Norma Jean Lowe were among the first people to have us in their home when Melissa and I moved to Pasadena. On that memorable evening, they taught us how to play “chicken foot” on their dining room table. They took us out on their back porch and entertained us with a guitar and mandolin duet. They showed us old pictures and home videos as if we were part of their family. It was then that I first noticed that Norma Jean was a lover of the simple things of life.

She didn’t need much. In fact, she had everything she wanted. She kept a modest home, but it was warm and inviting and always open. A good Astros or Rockets game was sufficient entertainment for her. To be surrounded by people she loved was worth more to her than all the riches of the world. In fact, that was what she treasured most.

She loved her Bill. They were perfect for each other. You never heard of one without the other. Up until the time she became shut in, you never saw one without the other. They were the Acquilla and Priscilla of our time. Whatever they did, they did it together. Whatever they had, they had it together. They were the living example of the abiding truth that “two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overcome him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart” (Eccl. 4:9-12).

She loved her family. She had great stories about Laura as a young girl in Sinton. She would brag about Scot and his success in the surveying business. And she was proud of all her grandsons and the activities they were a part of. She was a good Granny. Through her example, she fulfilled her responsibility as an older woman to encourage the younger women to “love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored” (Titus 2:4-6).

She loved her music. When she was five, Norma learned how to sing harmony by listening to the radio. Later, she taught herself how to play guitar. For 21 years, she performed with a singing group called “Sweet Adelines.” But her favorite use of her ability was in singing and making melody with her heart to the Lord (Eph. 5:19), praising God with the voice He had given her. Last Thursday, sixty people met at the building to go to the Paramount Rehab Center to sing some of Norma’s favorite hymns to her. Little did we know that we would meet again the very next Thursday morning for her funeral, not just to sing about heaven but to see her there.

She loved her Lord. Norma Jean was a faithful wife, a loving mother, a devoted grandmother, a caring sister, a loyal friend. But she was all of those things because she was first a Christian. It was no secret that her devotion to God took priority over everything else in her life. She was an exceptional Bible student, often quoting passages from memory and putting them into practice. She never used her physical limitations as an excuse, but quietly went about her work without complaint, serving as best she could to the good of many, to the glory of God. And she didn’t just come to worship. She came to worship. Even in her last months, when her flesh was so weak, it was evident that her spirit was still willing.

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on…that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them’” (Rev. 14:13). Norma Jean Lowe died. But she died in the Lord she loved. She is now at rest from her labors of love. No more congestive heart failure. No more diabetes. No more cancer. No more gasping for air. Just a faithful saint of God, singing with the heavenly host, reunited with those who have gone before, watching and waiting for our coming. And we can follow her in death if we will follow the same steps of Jesus that she made her lifelong journey.

Norma Jean Lowe. I love her.