Testimony.

Testimony is not a word you hear often now in every day life. When I was growing up, it was a word we all knew and understood what it meant, from an early age.

Usually, a testimony was a short story a person would go to the front of the Church service, and tell us, either how they became a Christian, how they were born again, how they found Jesus as their Lord and personal Saviour; or of an answer to Prayer. A testimony always had a happy ending. It was always uplifting and encouraging.

Last year a lady in my Church Maisy, she had a different take on the use of a testimony, when she handed me an envelope and asked me to, “Read it, it is about my life.” I saw her each Sunday, and to be honest I didn’t know a lot about her life, I knew she was married with an adult child. They were a lovely family.

It was in a plain brown envelope, first I declined, but she insisted, and said, “I have lots more.” So, I took the envelope and put it in my Church hand bag.

After a few weeks, I found it and transferred it into my works bag so that I could start reading it in my lunch break. Then after a few weeks I found it in my works bag and then transferred it to the bag that I use when I stay at my Mums for the 5 days, when it is my turn for the long weekend. And there the brown envelope stayed, for many weeks until I found it again in my bag that I used when I stay with my Mum!

One day, while I was at Mums, I found it in my bag and opened up the envelope and took out the typed pages of her story. I started to read it, it was very interesting, it was not at all what I had expected.

When I saw her at Church I didn’t go up to her and say, “I have started to read the story that you gave me,” For it had been many months since she have given me the envelope. I had read a few pages and decided I wasn’t going to rush it, as I am not a fast reader, I have to read it slowly and digest it, and enjoy it. There was a lot of pages. My plan was to read the rest of it in one sitting, that is the least I could do, for she had taken the time to type it out and print if off. I respected Maisy a sweet soul.

Her lovely husband died a few years ago, and her adult child lives far away with her husband. Maisy, like myself is a cat person, she has four.

Last Saturday almost forty of us women from the Church went out for breakfast, it cost only £5 as the Church paid for the rest to the restaurant. It was in a private function room, it was a freshly cooked full English with all the trimmings, black pudding, cereals, croissants, muffins, toast, fruit juices, coffee, and many different types of teas. It was a wonderful, relaxed refreshing atmosphere, taking time out, of our busy life to meet up, and for only a fiver! Then after we had all eaten, one of the ladies spoke she gave her lovely testimony. At the end of her testimony she asked, “Did you all do your homework? If so, they will all be collected now, if not, paper and envelope will be handed out, along with a pen.” The homework was for us to before we got there, was write a letter to ourselves, of where we saw ourselves in 6 months time, this could include whatever prayer requests we also had, or what we would like to achieve in 6 months time. It was important that when we wrote this letter, that we had wrote it while we were in a calm quite place, as far as that were possible. I had written mine at 1.30am in the morning of the breakfast! And then I had gone to bed at 3am! We had to address it to ourselves as it would be posted back to us, by the speaker of the breakfast, in 6 months. We had to date the letter too. So, after the speaker had finished, all the S.A.E were collected into one large plastic wallet.    

After she had finished, we still sat where we were and as we sat, some had gone for more hot or cold drinks. Jo the professional photographer from Church, came round and took our photos.

After this, we then hugged and said our goodbyes and went home.

I have no car, so I walked to the bus stop and went to the TKMaxx, for the final day of the yellow sticker sale.

That night, on our group chat, there was a text for prayer for Maise from her lovely adult child, she had become unwell and was in hospital! It was a shock! At the breakfast hours earlier, she had looked in the peak of health, with her warm and gentle smile.

The following day, we were all given more details at Church, and in the wee small hours of Monday morning she died! We were all completely in shocked. I thought, that the lovely breakfast, that could have been her last meal, before she had taken ill. I thought of her lovely adult child, now with no parents. I thought of her four cats. Then I remembered her testimony in the brown envelope, that I had not finished reading! I will start again to read it and will read it in one sitting. But I won’t be able to tell her about it. That did make me sad.

This afternoon, I remembered Jo had taken our pictures, in the booth where I had sat with the lady that had paid for my meal and her lovely Mum, I text Jo and said, “You have the last photo of Maise, when you went around and took all our photos.”

Jo replied, I didn’t take everyone’s photos, I took a selection, and Maise’s was one of the tables I didn’t go to, I wish I had taken her photo now,” (with a sad face and tear emoji.

None of us knew, that was going to happen, that within a few short hours, she would be deathly ill, then die, never to be seen again in this life.

She was such a lovely wife and mother, and friend to SO many.

We are all still in shock. Her letter to herself, didn’t last 6 hours, let alone 6 months, I think her letter should be given to her adult child, I might suggest this to the speaker.

RIP M.G.