Heaven won't be the Same Again

Our dear Ms. Anne Cheairs went to be with the Lord on Friday July 14, 2006. I was so blessed to have her in my life, to be able to soak up her wisdom and learn from her example of how to be a godly woman after God's own heart. Her funeral was the 17th and was filled with tears and bouts of laughter. She was 86 years old and lived the fullest life. She was 86 years old and lived her life to the fullest.

• 86 years of life
• 70 years following the Lord
• 67 or so years of dedicated ministry

She would have liked to marry, but the Lord had other plans for her. She also said she never found an eligible man who knew more or could lead her spiritually.

Her various ministries were

• Young Life
• Teaching in a Christian school in Kenya
• Girl's Bible club
• Government prayer meeting
• Praying for the church and its members
• Bible Study Fellowship
• Sunday school teacher

Ms. Anne was a fireball. I was intimidated when I came under her wing early in 2004. She and the other women in our Sunday school class wowed me with their grasp of Scripture. I never felt I could have anything to share. Ms. Anne noticed this and told my mom when she was visiting that I didn't say much. I later learned if I studied I would have things to share. I wish she could have been there when I lead class.

She was encouraging and intimidating at the same time. She would encourage us to memorize Scripture and would give us a packet to memorize. The intimidation came when she would call on you in class to recite them. Each year in about October we were to start praying about our next year's verse. It was not to be nonchalantly picked out in the end of December. This was the verse we were to memorize so we could meditate on it each day. Before we set our feet on the floor in the morning we were to claim our Scripture and then give our day to the Lord.

Ms. Anne prayed without ceasing. Our Sunday school hour would be taken up mostly by prayer. We each had a little yellow slip of paper to write down the requests on. These women called upon His Name, they pleaded for intercession, they praised and thanked their God and Savior. Often a prayer would be paused for a question of clarification. Ms. Anne wanted to pray correctly for each person. Mid prayer you would hear, "Now when will she have the surgery?" than an answer would follow and back to prayer. The first time I heard this, it made me giggle, now I understand how much she cared that she was praying accurately for the person.

When I first came to class we were in the Minor Prophets and I recall her always pointing out the "day of the Lord". This was because that is the day when Christ shall return. A day Ms. Anne looked forward to, a day she will not see from the earth.

Ms. Anne was full of knowledge and would point her finger at you with palm facing up flick her wrist to make a point. She would say, "Now, Honey write this down so you don't forget it, you may never hear it again." Everyone was to have a notebook with them to write things down. We were also to have read our passage and studied it to share with class.

We were also to get enough sleep on Saturday night so we would not be yawning in class, she said we looked like Leon the lion yawning so big like that. Sunday was to be a day of rest, so we should do our shopping and chores on Saturday, she would suggest. She was very pleased to learn that I took the day of rest literally and napped all afternoon on Sunday.

She comforted and corrected. After a recent break-up I came up to her after class to ask for her prayer. She took my hand and told me, "Honey, we are to be thankful in everything. That does not mean you should be jumping for joy when you are heartbroken, but you are to be thankful to God for working in your life and for what He is teaching you." Tears slid down my face so she pulled out a tissue for me. Then she followed up with, "Maybe this man was taking up too much of your time or thoughts." She had got right to the issue. She gave me a hug and her compact to make sure my make-up was not smeared. I had made him an idol in my life. Another heart to heart I had with her, I am not sure what it was about but she ended it by telling me how beautiful I was and some day a man would walk into my life. It really lifted my spirits.

Ms. Anne did not waste time. Along with other things in her purse, were small cards kept together by a rubber band. On these cards were verses or prayer requests. If she was in a line or waiting at the Doctor's office she would pull them out and memorize or pray. The most important relationship in her life was with her Father in Heaven.

Her Bible told the story of her life. I am not sure how long she had used it, but it was held together by duck tape. I think almost every inch of white space was taken up by notes, cross-references, or special points people had made. If she heard something that really touched her she would mark who said it and when and then write it out in the margins. Tami and I had fun at her visitation looking through it, I remember her always encouraging us to read through the Bible from cover to cover, by the time we were in the class she did not require it to be done in a year but to just do it and then when you are finished do it again. She would tell us not to get discouraged in Deuteronomy and Leviticus and Numbers since they were pretty dry, but to keep on. Tami and I noted there were very few notes and markings in these books.