Eulogizing My Parents

Crafting these eulogies proved to be a journey through raw emotion, driven by the strength I found in God and the values instilled by my parents. The experience was not only an honor but a testament to the profound impact they had on my life. Hebrews 11:38 and the double entendre of Psalm 17 serve as touchstones for their enduring faithfulness and generosity. By sharing this journey, my hope is to offer encouragement and inspiration, whether you knew my parents or are searching for strength in your own life. Come along as I pay tribute to my parents' incredible lives and invite you to be part of this journey.

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Here For the Memories

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here for the memories thought-provoking audio memoir
shorts filled with stories,humor, anecdotes and commentary
on social, cultural, businessand religious issues.
Whatever Lyndon remembers andthinks will entertain, challenge
and inform is a possiblesubject.

(00:20):
The collection of memoriesabout one's life allows for the
development and refinement of asense of self, including who one
is, how one has changed andwhat one might be like in the
future.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Greetings and salutations.
This is Lyndon Wolfe and youhave reached my audio memoir
here for the Memories, not apodcast, I remind you, so glad
you joined.
This is primarily for thosethat know and love me, though
that number is small Just toshare a little bit about who I
am, my experiences, my values,my thoughts, my opinions, so

(00:58):
that when I leave this planetthey might have something to
remember me by.
They might not read my memoir,but little, short excerpts by
audio might be more palatable.
Speaking of leaving this planet, no greater honor has been
bestowed on me ever, no greatercredential, ever or more

(01:19):
meaningful than preaching thefuneral of both my mother and
father.
In both cases, as their enddrew nigh, I slipped into a
pastoral Airbnb to finalizecrafted words with painful
detail and raw emotion.
I bled on the keyboard as Irealized that what I said would

(01:43):
always be a poor facsimile ofwho they actually were.
Every effort to describe themwas woefully inadequate, but the
exercise of capturing theircharacter and essence in 20
minutes was well worth theexcruciation.
Nothing else but God'ssupernatural strength possessing

(02:07):
me to rise above my lamentationand pain at their loss, would
allow me to deliver eulogiesworthy of my parents, and it was
well beyond my humanlimitations.
But more than that, they weretributes to a couple that would
serve all of us well as spousaland parental models.

(02:28):
In both cases, the content wascrafted over several years and
took many hours of labor.
You see, I wanted every word,phrase and sentence to honor my
parents' lives, and I believethat was accomplished.
As much as I could, I alsowanted my delivery to reflect
the depth and power of the wordsthat I had written, and I

(02:50):
believe that, amazingly, wasaccomplished as well.
Lives so well lived deserved asermon that was just as well
done, Although I believe thatsome people's lives are so
exemplary that, metaphorically,they preach their own sermons.
But I wanted to add to theirliving sermons words that

(03:13):
reflected just how special theywere.
The theme for my dad's servicewas Hebrews 11 38.
The first phrase was the keyand the world was not worthy of
them.
The writer says More in keepingwith the vernacular.
The New Living Translationrenders the Greek as they were

(03:33):
too good for this world.
To me, no other phrase in theEnglish language better captures
the essence of my Father.
Although the passage isreferring to long-suffering yet
faithful saints of old, itdescribed him beautifully as
well Faithful from beginning toend, faithful in the little
things as well as the big ones,faithful to friends, family, his

(03:57):
church and his Heavenly Father.
Most importantly, I've alwayssaid that if I were to be half
the man my father was, I wouldend up exceptional.
One lighter note Dad had agreat sense of humor.
He worked at the same companyfor 42 years and on the last day
he worked the day of hisretirement, which he regretted,

(04:19):
by the way, even though he waswell into his 70s.
Anyway, he got into the officeearly so he could prepare the
coffee, and he did, but heswitched the caffeinated and the
decaffeinated coffee,unbeknownst to the rest of the
crew.
He said halfway through themorning.
There were two groups of people.
One group was a nervous wreckand the other was taking a nap.

(04:41):
The synopsis of my mother'sspirit was found in the double
entendre of Psalm 17.
Her beloved Living Bibletranslation reads that as for me
, my contentment is not inwealth but in seeing you and
knowing all is well between us.
And when I awake in heaven, Iwill be fully satisfied, for I

(05:04):
will see you face to face.
I always believed that from thetime of my father's death until
hers, she had both him and hersavior in mind, as she kept this
truth in her heart.
If Dad was faithful, she wasdevoted devoted to so many and
willing to sacrifice in thislife to gain in the next.

(05:25):
Always ready to givebountifully, quick to show love.
Her servant's heart was a greatmodel for me and many others,
especially those 10th gradegirls that over the many years
she taught in Sunday schoolclass I know she had a
tremendous impact on them.
My mother was a tremendousgiver, you know.

(05:49):
Later in life, well into her 90s, I was at her house when I saw
an old Baptist hymnal andBaptist hymnals are hard to come
by and I said, well, where didyou get this?
Because they're not typicallysomething you can buy from a
Christian bookstore, at leastnot in the quantity of one.
And she said, well, I got itfrom the church.
I said, well, how did thathappen?

(06:10):
She said, well, we moved to amore contemporary hymnal and I
didn't like a lot of those songs, but I did like the songs in
this older traditional hymnal.
I said, so, the church gave itto you.
No, I stole it.
I said you stole it, yes, Itook it.

(06:32):
As much money as I've given tothat church.
The least I could get out of itwas this old hymnal that was
going into the trash.
Strange as it might sound, thesefunerals rank near the top,
very top, of my life experiences.
Once again, I felt as if I wassupernaturally journeyed to a

(06:53):
place beyond my humanlimitations and did as much as I
could to honor them and extoltheir Savior.
I don't think, looking back, Iwould change a word, phrase or
sentiment, and that's more thanI could ask for.
Thank you, mother and Dad, formaking your eulogies so easy to

(07:14):
write and deliver, something youstarted preparing me for from
the time I was 13 years old.
And thank you for joining me,lyndon Wolfe and my audio memoir
here for the Memories.
I hope you found encouragement,strength, inspiration,
something from the sharing ofthe stories about me having the

(07:35):
honor and privilege of preachingmy parents' funeral services.

Speaker 1 (07:46):
God bless, create and deliver it.
Please consider a smallcontribution.
Just go to buymeacoffeecomslash here for the memories.
That's buymeacoffeecom slashhere for the memories.
Much appreciated.