Please bow your heads with me now. As we go to our Lord. In prayer, Heavenly Father, Almighty and gracious God. You are the one who saves. You sent your son to die for our sins.
so that we can be freed from the penalty of sin. We thank you that our departed loved one is now in your presence. And we rejoice that Joni will enjoy eternal Glory. Father, as we honor Joni today. Let the unconditional love that you showered upon her during her life.
Feel this service. A few weeks ago, Randy shared with me that Joni was passionate about her responsibilities as a teacher. And he explained how she expressed an extra special love, and affection for her students. A love and affection that extended beyond the classroom. This exceptional love did not come to Joni by chance, for nothing in this world happens by chance.
Father Joni loved her students, and she loved others. Because you first loved her. and the presence and the work of the Holy Spirit was in her. Father? Help us to love others unconditionally.
as Joni did. when she was with us on earth. Dear God, as we continue this service, let us be focused on your holiness and goodness. Direct our thoughts to fond memories of our departed friend and family member, May the presence of the Holy Spirit bring peace and comfort to us all.
so that we are able to mourn together as brothers and sisters in Christ. Father, may your grace be upon all those who are here today. And we pray this in the name. And for the sake of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The scripture readings today come from Psalm forty six. And Isaiah chapter 43. God is our refuge and strength. A very present help. In trouble.
Therefore, we will not fear. Though the earth gives way. Though the mountains be moved, into the heart of the sea. Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains tremble, At its swelling. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God.
The holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God will help her. when morning dawns, The nations rage, the kingdoms totter.
He utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Come. Behold the works of the Lord.
How He Has Brought Desolations on the Earth. He makes war cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots with fire. Be still.
and know that I am God, I will be exalted among nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. This is from Isaiah chapter 43.
But now thus says the LORD He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel, Figure not. For I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you.
and through the rivers They shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned. And the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord. Your God.
When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast. When the tempter would prevail, he will hold me fast. I could never keep my hold through life's fear. Fearful path for my love is often cold. He must hold.
Hold me fast, He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast for my Savior loves me so He will hold me fast. Those He saves are His delight, Christ will. Hold me fast, precious. His holy side, he will hold me fast. He'll not let my soul be lost.
His promise bought by him at such a cost. He will hold me fast, he will hold me fast, he will hold me fast for my Savior loves me so he will hold me fast for my life, he bled and died. Christ will hold me fast. Justice has been Inside. That is fun.
He will hold me fast, raised with him to endless life. He will hold me fast till our faith is turned to sight. When he comes at last, he will hold me fast, he will hold me fast for my Savior loves me so he will hold me fast, he will hold me fast, he will hold me fast for. For my Savior loves me so Christ will the New Testament reading this morning is for First Peter. Chapter 1, verses 3-9.
Less paid. Before Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again, a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. Kept in heaven for you.
who by God's power are being guarded through faith. For the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you may have greed for various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes through the tested By far may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you have not See him now.
You believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. In Christ alone, my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my soul. This corner stole this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
One heights of war, one doubts of peace, when fears more still than striving cease. My comforter, my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand. In Christ alone, who took on flesh, fullness of God in heaven's pay, his gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones he came to save. Till that Christ as Jesus died, the room of God was satisfied for every sin on him was laid, even in the death of Christ I made there in the crowd his body lay, light of the world by torn. Darkness fake, then bursting fear in the street that would be standing forever.
Since church has lost its grip on me, for I am his and his mine, fought with the precious blood of Christ alive, fearing death. This is the power of Christ to me from Christ the strife to final breath. Jesus complains thy best turn. No power of heaven, steam of man. Still he returns our calls before.
We the power of Christ I'll stand. O power of man of steam of man, and the love in love is hand till he returns our cause we hold. We on the path of Christ I'll stand. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 4. By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.
By which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts. And by it He being dead, yet speaketh. We've gathered here today to worship our Lord and to pay tribute to our friend Joni Presley. A time when our hearts have been made weak with grief, we need the strength of eternal wisdom, and God gives that wisdom to us through the power of His Word.
I've chosen for my text today one verse, Hebrews chapter 11, verse 4. It's a very intriguing verse. For it says that by faith, though Abel was dead, yet he speaks. We do not hear the audible voice of Abel speaking to us today, but yet who he was, what he did, and what he stood for will never be forgotten. And I would like to submit to you today that by faith, though Joni Presley is not with us today, she still speaks to us.
and will continue to speak to our hearts forever through the witness that she left behind. Psalm 116, verse 15 says, Precious in the sight of the Lord. is the death of his saints. I'm going to be honest with you. Her death does not seem very precious to me right now.
It hurts. It stings. Because we're going to miss her. We're going to miss her smile. We're going to miss her kidding Randy.
We're going to miss her encouraging words. But those are my feelings. And guess what? The Word of God overrides my feelings. And the word of God says, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
Now why would it be precious to God? It would be precious to God because she's not struggling to breathe any longer. She is breathing celestial air. She's not struggling with sin. any longer.
Sin has no power over her now. and she will never be tempted to sin ever again. As glorious as that is, that's not the best thing. The best thing about her death is this. She is in the presence of the Of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:8, Paul said, For the Christian to be absent from the body is to be present. with the Lord. They took Joni off the ventilator Saturday week ago. at 1212 p.m. At 1220 p.m.
I got a a text. From um From Debbie Nagel. And she said, Joni is with the Lord. I would give my right arm. If I could have seen that meeting.
If I could have seen her just breathe her last breath, and then one split second later, she enters into the presence of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. She sees Jesus on his throne in all of his glory. And I can imagine Joni just bowed down, prostrate before the throne. And she's just thanking him over and over and over again for what he did for her on the cross, that she could be with him forever. And then I might be wrong, but knowing Joni, I don't think I am.
I don't think she stayed there very long. I think she jumped up. And I think she ran right to the throne, and I think she threw her arms around Jesus. And I think she embraced him. And I think she reached up and she felt the nail prints in his hands, the tangible evidence of what Christ.
had done for her on the cross. And I think Jesus embraced her. And maybe she said to Jesus, she said, You know, it was Paul. who said, to live is Christ, to die is gain. She said, Oh, Paul was exactly right.
It can't get any better than this. And she said, I'm going to be able to be worshiping you like this, not just for days, not just for weeks, not just for months, not for years, but forever and ever and ever. Precious In the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. I think Joni speaks to my heart today in three different ways that I want to share with you. She speaks in many ways, but these are the three I'd like to share with you.
First of all, Joni speaks to us through her sweetness. That's not really a biblical word, is it? But I think the biblical words would probably be kind or gentle. Or uh Just a merciful maybe. and she was certainly all those things.
What did she do? for a job. She was a teacher. A teacher who taught special needs kids. Not many people can do that.
You have to have a certain patience and a certain compassion and a certain understanding to to do something like that. Sandy Mullino was a neighbor of Cindy and I's when we lived over in Steeplechase. She was just a great neighbor. We didn't realize it then, but Her and Joni were just not only best of friends, but they talked together for 32 years. And what did they do?
They poured their lives. into those special needs kids. Cindy, several years ago, was asked by someone to if she would go to the hospital, said there's a special need child there, and I just wonder if you could go and just pray for her. And Cindy was a little nervous about that, so she called Joni up and said, Joni, would you go with me? And Joni did.
And Cindy said she watched Joni as she walked over to the hospital bed and she reached over and she touched that little girl on the arm and kind of rubbed her arm a little bit. And she started talking to her. And then she prayed with her. She read scripture to her. And Cindy said there was just an unbelievable connection that took place immediately with that little girl.
When I got home that night, Cindy had a tear in her eye. She said, Doug, Joan, you just got a gift. She's just got a gift. She said that little girl was drawn to Joni by Jesus. And that was true.
Proverbs 17, 17 says, A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Randy and Joni. And Alan and Lisa Hilton. and Wolfgang and Debbie Nagel. had a friendship relationship.
like I have not seen very often. For 45 years, they have been The very best of friends. They went to another church for a number of years, and then the Lord led them here. And they embraced our faith, they embraced our doctrine, they embraced the people here at Grace. And they have been a powerful blessing and a witness to us at church.
Let me tell you something, they love each other. They love each other. They eat together. They go to the beach together, they go to Charleston together, they fish together. And when one of them's hurting, they're all hurting.
I have been at their homes at different times when they've experienced the death of a loved one. And I'm there for just a few seconds, and then all of a sudden, everybody in that group starts showing up. to pray for each other and to encourage each other. These friends are so close. I can't think of one couple without thinking of the whole three.
We're also good friends with the Presleys. And on Sunday nights, for several years now, after the service is over, we go out to eat.
Now those that you know me know that I have a very refined culinary taste. And so one of my favorite restaurants is the Waffle House. And uh it's Randy was talking to Cindy just a few days ago and he said that he and his wife Joni were coming into his church and said he asked her, said, you know, I'd love to go to the waffle house tonight. And she said, you know, I'm just not in a waffle house mood. And she got here, and the service was over, and she came up to me and said, Doug, where do you want to eat?
And I said, Waffle House. And she said, Waffle house it is, let's do it. And I thought, praise God. That's sweet. She took what she wanted to do, put it on the back burner.
just to make me happy. Joni had a card ministry. She would drive all the way on the other side of Statesville to a a Christian bookstore there where they sell cards. And she'd come back with a car load full. And these were thank you cards, sympathy cards, Christmas cards, Easter cards, Thanksgiving cards, just scripture field cards.
I mean, it was just unbelievable. And she would send them out to people all through the year. When William Alley good Dad. she sent a card to Sarah. And I can't tell you what that card meant.
He's been gone for two years now. And when I go into their house, She points me to that card. to let me know how much it meant. A couple of weeks ago, I was at Allie Good Home. And I was talking to Sarah and she asked me, how's Joni doing?
I said, Jenny's not doing too well. We need to really pray for her. And she got tears in her eyes. She turned around and she pointed me. to that card.
Folks, that's a ministry. And it was a ministry that Joni absolutely loved and dedicated herself to. And the Lord used it and honored it. My wife's mother Wanda Abercrombie's 91 years old. A couple of weeks ago, Cindy had to go mama see it.
Her her brother, sh her mom lives in her brother's home, and her brother and and wife had to leave for a few days. Sydney needed to go over and take care of her mom.
So I took food over there to him one night and we were sitting down eating and I started telling him about Joni and the trouble that she was in and what she was going through. We got through eating and I had to go and so I I Went over and I put my arm around Cindy's mom and I prayed for her. I prayed for Miss Wanda. And when I got through praying for Miss Wanda, I prayed for Joni. And I gave Ms.
Wanda a kiss and I gave my wife a kiss and I left. Cindy called me up a little bit later and she said, as soon as you walked out of the door, said Mama, just burst into tears. And so I said, Mama, what's the matter? And she says jungy. Its journey She said, I can't tell you how much those cards that she sent me all through the years have meant to me.
Folks, when Joni speaks to me today, she speaks to me first through her sweetness. Secondly, she speaks to me through her studiousness. Joni was a school teacher for four decades. She graduated from Appalachian University. She went on to get her master's.
And then Randy was telling me that she got a certification to do her work that was almost like a doctrinal thing. It was just a tough, long, long study. She was an excellent teacher. And she What I loved so much about her She loved to study the Word of God. The Word of God meant everything to her.
She took seriously 2 Timothy 2, verse 15: study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing. The word of truth. When she listened to a sermon, she took meticulous notes. She had books that were filled with quotes from Puritans that she had written down, Charles Spurgeon and John Calvin and all the others. And she would just take a special quote, write it down, has books full of them.
Randy said that when I'd be preaching, sometimes something would just click in his mind and he would lean over to her to share something with her, and she'd just reach over and she'd pop him in the side. And she said, look, don't mess up my train of thought. These last few years, she has been very busy about memorizing scripture. We'd go out to eat, and I would always ask her, I'd say, What scripture are you memorizing now? And she'd quote it just like that.
It was amazing. Lance and Alan read scripture to you. Uh today in our service. And uh Most of the time, I'm the one that put That puts the scripture out. I make the decision on what scripture is to be used.
I had some scripture that I was going to use, and Randy said, no, no, no. He said, let's use these particular scriptures. That meant so much to Joni. And we did. When I saw her on the ventilator for the first time, All I could think about was that she lay there was one of her favorite verses.
which is Psalm forty six, verse ten. Be still. And know that I am God. She was very still physically. But let me tell you, the presence of God was right there.
Joni was a student of the Word of God.
So Johnny was sweet. Joni was studious. But then, thirdly, Johnny was sold out to the Lord.
Sold out. Joni's faith was the very opposite of the Pharisees. No self-righteousness, no pride, no show, none of that. She was a loving and submissive wife to Randy. Folks, they had a relationship that very few couples know anything about.
She respected Randy and she trusted him. And Randy loved her. like Christ loved the church. Jesus said that the relationship between husband and wife is a picture of the relationship between Christ and his church, and Randy and Joni did great honor to that picture. Randy came up to the church last week and our one of our secretaries, Bev Nolan, had shared with Randy that she would help him fix the bulletin and do it the way he wanted to and get the pictures put in it.
It's absolutely beautiful. But he brought everything up here for her to get all that put together. And then he said, I'm going to be doing a eulogy. He sh said, Would you mind i if Would you mind if you could just type it up for me? Would you do that?
And she said, I'd be more than glad to. And so she did. I went over by the office a little bit later that day. Randy had already gone. She had tears in her eyes.
And she said, Doug, you know what you need to do? You need to let Randy Presley teach the men's Sunday school class. on how to love your wife like Christ loved the church. And all I could say was amen. Joni was a member of the Lady Steering Committee.
These ladies loved her insight, they loved her input, and they loved her love for grace. Let me get very personal for just a minute. Johnny was a uh An encourager for me. I can't tell you how many times she has shared something that I've said from the pulpit, and then she's told me how much it meant to her and how it helped her in her Christian faith. I don't need just compliments, but they weren't just compliments.
She shared those things with me just to help me to be a better preacher. to be faithful to the word of God. And I will never forget that. A while back, Joni had a sister to pass away. And she was going through a very deep, deep time of grief, and she was just taking it hard.
She told me about it and what she was going through, and that particular Sunday morning after her sister had passed away. I was preaching on the subject of heaven. And right in the middle of my sermon, I just felt called by God to do this. I looked down at her and I said, Joni Presley. Joni Presley sorrow not as others who have no hope.
Sorrow not as others who have no hope, or if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so those who sleep with Jesus. shall he bring with them. I said, Jonah, your sister is with the Lord. and you will see her again. Several weeks after this, she was back at the cemetery.
And she was very good. Grieving once again. And the grief was just very, very deep. And she said she started to walk away and as she was walking away she was crying. And she just started praying.
And she said, Lord, help me to deal with this grief. I don't know how to handle this grief. Help me to deal with it. She got in a car. She turned the car on.
The radio station was onto the truth network. Our radio ministry from here at Grace Church. is on the truth network. And it just happened to be at that time.
Now, the way the programs work is that the sermons that I preach are not put on there immediately, but they're several weeks off. And so the sermon that happened to be on was that sermon that I had preached on heaven. And when she turned the car on and the radio came on, the very first words that she heard were these: Joni Presley. And she said she looked up.
Sorry not. as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, Even those who sleep with Jesus. Will he bring with him? Joni, your sister.
is with the Lord. and you will see her again. Johnny said, that's an answer to prayer. That's an answer to prayer, and her sorrow and grief were lifted. Was that just coincidence?
Oh no. That was the sovereign. Providential Timing of God. Joni was a good wife. She was a good sister.
She was a good teacher. She was a good friend. But I want you to know she's not in heaven today because she was good. She's in heaven today because the only one who is truly good, the Lord Jesus Christ, was her substitutionary atonement. Jesus took her sin and gave her his righteousness.
He took her misery and gave her his joy. He took her hell and gave her his heaven. If Joni could speak from heaven today, I'll guarantee you what she would share with this world would be the gospel. She would say to us, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent of your sins.
Trust in him. Jesus died on the cross to pay our sin debt. He rose from the dead to break the power of death. There is nothing in this life that is more important than your relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.
Sin has left a crimson stain, He washed it. White as snow. She shared that gospel while she was living. I want you to know she's still sharing it today. through the testimony.
that she left behind. For Joanie? There's no more sorrow. There's no more pain. There's no more frustration.
There's no more sin. There's no more death. There's no more low oxygen levels. She will never know anything else ever again. but joy unspeakable and full of glory.
She is with Jesus. A few weeks ago. when she could still talk with Randy. She knew and Then in her heart the That Death was a very real possibility. And she wanted to share something with Randy.
That would just kind of help him through it. And she looked into Randy's eyes and she said, Randy, I'm okay. I'm okay. She didn't mean that she thought that she was certainly going to be healed and everything was going to be fine physically. What she meant was this I belong to Jesus.
I belong to the Lord Jesus. I know him. I love him. And He will take care of me. And I will be with him forever.
If this is my time to go. Let me ask you something. Can you honestly say that today? Can you honestly say, My life is not in my hand, my life is not in the doctor's hand, my life is in the hands of the sovereign God? And if this is Jesus' time for me to go to be with him, then praise God, let that time come.
Just think. I stepping on shore and finding it at heaven of touching a hand. And finally, God's. A breathin' new air. and find that it's celestial.
of waking up in glory. and find that at home. First before I say anything, I want to say thank you, thank you, and thank you. Borough. All the calls.
All the cards. Uh all the food. Uh the the The various things people have done for us. Yeah. that it and above all things Oh.
the powerful prayer that went up. Jesus answered those prayers. Perhaps not in the detail we wanted. But in the greatest healing she could have, the greatest means of grace when she was translated to his kingdom from this earth. And her faith, as Doug said, became sight.
And I rejoice in that. Uh certainly it leads Sadness behind, doesn't it? But we also know that, as Vance Hefner said, there can be joy in the heart. when there's tears in the eyes. Um But I wanted to share that because despite I may have hit a few bumps in the road, you'll have to forgive me.
But uh Our first date, when I first met Johnny, Uh it was through uh And I'm not gonna give you the whole history. But as a long time, very long time. But I I was at a former church, Cold Moon More United Methodist. They had an open free period there that you could come. And play basketball, and us guys we played everywhere we go: Davidson, UNCC, Freedom Park, Interleaf Park.
You name it, we just played everywhere and when that gym came available, sir, we mean We took advantage of it.
Well, anyway, we would play there on, I don't know, Tuesday night, Wednesday night when they made it available to everyone. And I would see Joni there. And she kind of caught my eye. She had this, she worked for Ponderosa Steakhouse, and she wore this little cowgirl outfit. A little short brown skirt and a western style shirt and a and a t uh a cowboy hat, and I think she wore boots.
But anyway, we used to pick at each other and got to know each other a little bit. And I'm almost seven years older than Johnny.
So it was a little different kind of situation in a way. I think she was 17. I was like 23 and 24. But anyway, we played ping pong on the stage of the gym. And I said, well, if you win.
We'll go to a restaurant of my choice. If you win, we'll go to a restaurant of your choice.
So it was a win-win for me. I went to her mother's house. I went to their... Mom, dad's house to pick her up. And uh Hazelene answered the door.
Now Hazelen's about 4'9. And uh she looked up at me and uh she kinda just a minute and push the door to. And looked at John and he said, He's not a boy, he's a man. And she said, you're not going anywhere until daddy gets home. I love that about Hazeline.
She was right down the line. She was a very modest person, but she was solid about what, and that carried over into Johnny's life too. But so I sit down on the couch, they were very hospitable to me. John, her dad, finally came home. And uh he scrutinized me a little bit and looked at me and Ask a few questions, one thing or another, and We got to talking and he mentioned Calius.
Canada is above Huntersville, a little town up there, and both of us have a lot of family up there. And uh And he, and I told him, I said, my grandma and grandpa, Charlie, and Nancy Belt live on McCall Street. And we go up there about every weekend. He said, Is your mother Mildred Belt? And I said, yeah, she can go.
So The rest is history. Uh but uh But I uh I've always known. I've always known. that I got the better end of the deal. and Mary and Joni Sauceman.
Uh Just bless my life. Uh As she blessed hundreds, as Doug alluded to, I may repeat some of the things somewhat. bless hundreds of special needs children's lives. And I'm going to put my glasses on because I think I can read a whole lot better with those. See uh Through all those years of teaching and loving them, and love was the key.
I've seen her anguish, I've seen her cry, I've seen her struggle over. coming home with stuff about her children. concerned about their progress, concerned about their ultimate. Maybe one of them is being moved from another family or something, and she knew it would upset. She said, You always have a little window of opportunity.
To reach these children, and you need to. Try your best to get them there because as best they can, because at a certain point you might not reach them. And uh And as Doug mentioned, she was National Board certified. It was almost like doing a thesis for a PhD. I mean, she went a whole year doing criteria that.
Even if you packed it wrong in the box when you sent it, you get demerits.
So it was pretty strict. But her and Sandy Boef went through that, Sandy Molado, and it was a really wonderful achievement. She earned her degree at state of education degree and masters at UNCC. But you know, our dedication and our teaching techniques and our Her willingness to go the extra yards, I mean, she was known in the system downtown, and they really appreciated her. They sent her a lot of students to mentor.
from UNCC and other young teachers. Um I think I'm going to mention that in the obituary. We joined GRACE several years ago, and it really made a difference in our lives. And as Doug mentioned, Oh. Joni really grew in her reverence and love of the word.
I used to kid her. I said, you're leaving me behind, Joni. I said, it used to be, I would do the lessons at our church and pray. uh facilitate lessons, not teach, but necessarily, but But I said, you are shaming me. I said, you're getting in message in the word.
You're uh you're making notes right and left. And when I was down there the other day at the old house, I was going through some things, and I mean, it's a composition book after composition book, you know, there, but her relationship to Jesus was sure. And she was always quick to acknowledge Christ was first in her life. I didn't mind taking second seat to Him, you know. But fishing and Tent camping, arts and crafts photography.
You might have seen some of her pictures I put in, or nature pictures, and birds. In the video that we showed, she really could take some great shots. And uh Riding in a 2002 Chevy Silverado, those were pastimes. She really enjoyed riding that truck. She'd take that truck anywhere.
I always told her, I said, sweetheart, it's got over 200,000 miles on it. She said, well, we'll just pray before we go. But uh Thirty years or so we've shared at the Cloud Nine. 35 plus years with some dear friends that was just so special to us. It was more than a beach trip.
Uh it was family reunion. Uh We've uh We've been there so much at Cherry Grove. A lot of the shots you saw in the video was from there. And also trips to Charleston. I mean, we'd take Trips with Adela and Lisa and Debbie and Wolfgang, and spend a couple days down there.
Just really enjoyed it. She and I just really liked just getting on the back roads and walking and looking at the history. I think I read every one of those plaques a couple hundred times. I kept forgetting what they said, so I did. But she, uh, She had a real love for others, and as Doug mentioned, she had a card ministry.
that she sent out cards of all types. And I mean You know, I used to tell her, I said, you know, She would talk about So you get a good deal on them, buy three, get one free or something, you know. But she spent a fortune on cards, but it was well worth it. It was well worth it. By the way, I'm just curious.
If you ever received a card from Johnny in here, I'll s can he sh show a show of hands. I mean, she just touched a lot of people, and that was the means that she did that. But uh Ah, uh She was always ready to laugh or weep with friends or those that she held dear. And her life and attitude certainly blessed my life, especially my own. She had country roots in it.
Youthful. an uncomplicated spirit about her. And laughter was a source of joy, heartwarming influence to me. I mean, she was so easy to laugh. We laughed over some of the silliest things.
I was always saying things that were puns. She always said, You didn't get that until I pointed it out to you over and over again. or she remembered something. Or I remember something and she didn't, she had a great memory. Um Still does, I guess.
But actually but I would remember something that she didn't recall. And I'd say, yes, yes. And then she started giving me details to support her stand about no, that's not true. And after a while, I'm like, You're right. But it always gave me a certain joy when I can remember something she didn't.
I'll tell you as uh As mentioned earlier, she liked camping, and during her Appalachia State years, I would drive up after work on Fridays if we'd starting to get a little late. I'd pick her up at her dorm. We'd go by the 24-hour AP and buy some steaks and a couple potatoes to bake, and we'd head down Blue Ridge Parkway to try Julian Price Park first. Limo River Campground, maybe all the way to Craggy Gardens to find a campsite. I mean, it's already getting 9 and 10 o'clock.
And we'd get a bocce going, and she would get in the tent. Usually, it's kind of cool at the time of year. She would get in the tent and get in a sleeping bag while I cooked everything. And I would just hand it in there to her and I'd eat on a picnic day for us. But we uh we actually uh Um Traveled down the Limbo Gorge Wilderness area a few times, hike down toward the Connolly Cove Trail, and camp next to the river.
And on one of those trips, a new couple went with us that were beginners in backpacking and camping. And they had forgotten to rent their tent, and we went to Trailhead, packing up, ready to head out.
So I let them have my two-man tent. To this day, she wonders why I ever gave that tent away because we ended up bivouacking under a tarp. in the open air. and uh the ground cloth and just our sleeping bags. And a storm came up about midnight.
I mean, it was a lightning, thunderstorm. You could see the river, the white water, the rocks. I remember it like it was yesterday. And the wind was blowing. And we were getting a little spray underneath there.
Like I said, it was wide open all the way around. And I checked with my flashlight, I'd look out and make sure she was okay. And that's the only place I've ever seen a rattlesnake in the wild.
So I was a little concerned about that, too. And she thought I was crazy to do that anyway. But I would look around, and I could see a little rivulet of water running down from a runoff on one side of her, about three feet away from her. But she was okay. She's still asleep.
With all the thunder and lightning, she's still sleeping. And I would sleep about five or ten minutes and then I would I would check again with my flashlight and then I noticed something moving. And I studied it in the leaves, and it was like a hundred granddaddy longleg spiders. They were converging underneath that tarp. And I said I can't let her know this is happening.
Coast.
So I would flick a spider off or two off her sleep back. They weren't going to hurt her, but you would think it would. But anyway, We uh We kind of got through a few hours of it and uh And finally it passed, but I knew that I knew that if she ever woke up and those spiders were evident and she knew it. We'd be standing up like cows in a pasture for the next four or five hours under that tarp.
So that was a blessing. Uh that that didn't happen. But uh You know, and and I said I mentioned she liked uh she liked camp uh Fishing. We were on fish at Mountain Island Lake one afternoon. in the old boat and I was there in the front.
Fishing, she was fishing off the back with her cane pole. And I baited her up with crickets, you know, to catch some brim, whatever. And she said, get it, get it. And I said, I looked around, I said, what is it? You know, I didn't see anything.
She's up in the swivel seat on her knees off the floor of the boat. And I said, What is it? And she said, There it is. And I looked, and a cricket had gotten out of the cricket cage. You would have thought that thing was an anaconda or a poisonous viper.
But uh But she liked fishing, but only certain parts of it. She liked hooking a fish and bringing it to the shore. She ain't going to put a hook, I mean, she's not going to put a cricket or a worm on a hook, or she's not going to take one off the hook. But I loved it anyway, and that's what I really loved about her. See uh She had a lot of little girl in her.
I don't mean immature. I mean, it was the kind of thing where she It was quick to express a joy. astonishment or laughter. And I also really love that in her. Love that.
We were cooking out last September for my Sister Melie's birthday. And I didn't know about this until a few weeks ago. Uh that uh Uh She always watched me when I was outside. She push-mowing or something in the heat or something. She always.
She's always out there looking for me, make sure I'm okay, you know. She was looking outside while I was grilling. And while she was preparing some stuff on the counter, And Melody she said, Randy's the perfect husband for me. And uh Uh certainly she's perfect a wife for me, but uh Okay. I was just blessed by the providence of God that we were.
Join in a godly union of husband and wife. Forever bless my life. There's a There's a 1969 beat song by the Spiral Staircase. It says, I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow. And I u I wrote that so many times on notes to her for lunch.
Put her in a lunch bag, and sometimes after she retired, I'd write these notes every day. I'd leave them for her. I just wanted to let her know I loved her, and I'd bring up something unique. Maybe they'd go into the Bible study. I'd say, I hope you'll have an inspired, blessed time, you know, or something.
But um That still rings true. I love her more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow. Uh she uh Love grows stronger every day. You know, she lives as 1 Peter describes in that. That's scripture.
There's a place reserved in heaven for those that trust and know Christ. It's undefiled and uncorruptible. I know she lives there now. But I've whispered those ears those that in her ear so many times at the hospital. Uh I'd come in and say, sweetheart I I love you more today than I did yesterday.
I just want you to know that. But it's not gonna be as much as tomorrow. Joni's favorite scripture verse was Psalm 46:10. She's got a plaque across in front of the TV. That says, be still and know that I'm God.
And as Doug said, she's been very steel. She was very still for like 25 days. She was heavily sedated and they paralyzed her. uh just to keep her diaphragm from interfering with the ventilator. And uh And she I just feel so much that surely she grew to know her God even more intimately during those times and sure that Jesus held her fast.
And Her verse actually became, Be still and know that I am your God. That I'm your God. She definitely had a personal relationship with Christ. And when she wasn't able to talk on the ventilator, The nurses, and they did a great job. Patrick, Hannah.
Nicole, Christie, you name it. I mean, they. And when Joni could tell them, she would say that she's always very appreciative of what they did for her. And uh Uh And and I I always tried to to do that too, but They would bring up, they would bring us, when I couldn't actually visit, they would put a speakerphone next to her ear and leave it, and they would go out of the room. You don't have to go out.
It's okay. But uh But anyway, I would talk to her. I'd tell her what the date was and the temperature, who came by that day. Who called Uh Any cards she got, I'd read them to her and we'd pray together and Oh. I was going to sing In Christ Alone or He Holds You Fast, but I said after practicing a cappella a few times, I decided that probably wasn't a good thing to do.
So I read them to her. Yeah. I read them too. The last time that she and I shared a brief conversation, Uh Ms. Doug.
alluded to in his in his message. It was right before I'd come in from having a leaky tire fixed up at Klutz in Stanfield. And I've been riding through the country. I think the Lord, through His providential hand, gave me some peace.
Well out into the country, there's hardly any traffic. I just back down, cruising kind of easy. And uh And I got home and I felt like I could just keep riding. But I got home and Patrick, the nurse, had called me. And mention that He said Mr.
Presley said that We're needing to intubate. Put a ventilator on on your wife. She's already said it was okay. And we've been trying to defer that over and over, made sure that, and they used a BiPAP machine and a HydroFlow. Uh a respirator.
Many, many days. They didn't just jump on that. But her lungs got in pretty bad shape. But they said, is it okay with you? And I said, it's okay.
And says she wants to talk to you. And uh she said uh I'm okay. You're precious to me. I'm okay. I'm okay, really.
Uh Uh I knew physically she wasn't okay, but uh Spiritually, I knew she was a. She knew the peace of God prevailing in her heart, you know, and her voice was revealing that assurance: Be still and know that I'm your God. I have called you by name. And uh Patrick said it was the easiest patient he had ever applied a respirator to. A ventilator, I'm sorry.
The easiest patient, he said, she was almost effortless, and she didn't fight him, she didn't hyperventilate. And Joni was strong throughout this. I mean, she was just resting in the... I love that. in the clutches of of the Lord.
I I firmly believe. But um I'm not trying to present Johnny as a as a perfect person. Uh But her qualities far overshadowed. Hurt. Her imperfection, so to speak.
Many times she would remark to me that. You should have married someone that's a better housekeeper and organized things better and cooked for you more. And my response to her was always: look, I didn't marry a housekeeper, I didn't marry a cook. I married the woman I loved. And they love me.
And that settled it. But uh She uh she was a wonderful wife. She still is. Um We shared many times. I shared with her.
I said, You're a wonderful wife. I said, You're beautiful. You're my lover, you're my best friend, but most of all, Your Christian wife. You're a Christian wife. Who blessed me so much.
Through your faith and love of Christ. I got to know Joni a couple years after my mother had taken her life, and I was at a real big turning point in my life. kind of wild and crazy and one thing or another and Joni really turned that around. I always told her, Jesus and Johnny. Changed my life in that order.
But You know, there's never a good time to lose someone, is it, that you love and you cherish. Um But I didn't lose Johnny. Again, she resides in that far country, that land of promise, and she's not suffering, not by suffering or by dying, but because of her personal relationship with her Savior. You know, uh On Thanksgiving Day, I'm backing up a little bit. When she was in, I think it's IPU, it's a step down from ICU.
And the nurse, I talked to her earlier the day before, and I was talking to her again on Thanksgiving Day. And she said, I said after we talked about her numbers and different things, how she was doing. Like I understood half of those numbers, you know, but I'll tell you, these nurses have to be chemists and they have to be IT engineers. I mean, to watch these people work, and most of them are fairly young, I mean, I was very impressed. But I said uh Can I, I plead with you, can I have a minute or two come see my wife?
I mean, when we had to break off from the emergency room down here on Rocket River and she'd be taken to the hospital. You know, I said I didn't get to see her for But we don't see her for a long time. And uh but she This nurse. Got me in there. She said, You come and park in the Jiff Gordon area and park in Lot Jay.
And uh you call me when you get here.
Well fortunately Marvin had brought me a cell phone because I didn't have a cell phone. And I could actually call her from the car. She came out and suited me up with a mask and an N95 and all, and took me down the hall and into her room. And we got to spend at least an hour together. And I mean, it's the greatest Thanksgiving I ever had in my life.
And uh But uh See, uh, I wasn't there two minutes. And uh She asks that we sing our song. We sing a little ditty of thanking the Lord. We do it oftentimes before surgery or When we know the Lord's providential hand has been on something, just like the recent, the house we bought. You know, it was God's.
providential hand that made it possible. in so many ways. She asked that we sing that. And uh And y'all have probably sang this before. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.
We were wandering and lost, and our Father brought us home. to a safe dwelling place To a feast of joy and laughter, O give thanks to the Lord. Or he is good. He is good. I've always known, I've always known.
I got the better part of the deal. Even though we weren't perfect individuals, I think we were perfect for each other. And uh Again, I I thank you so much. For all the support. I told somebody one time that not long ago that in situations like this that You know You have head knowledge and you have some heart knowledge, but it's like scales get knocked from your eyes that you really can see the width and depth and breadth of people's love and fashion.
and their their support. And it certainly has blessed me. And that's and Zonnie. For that matter, through all that you have done and the prayers that you lifted up, they were answered. They were answered.
Joni has this. Little sticker on the refrigerator. I noticed the other day. I've seen it and I've seen it, but I didn't really see it. And it's a bird cage, and the two birds are out singing.
They've broken the cage open, and their own perch is outside. And it says, and it's based on 1 Peter 1:6. And it says, be truly glad. There is a wonderful joy ahead. Amen.
Amen. Yeah. Christ is an anchor for the soul. He never changes. He's the same.
yesterday, today, and forever. And so we can truly say with sincerity: it is well, it is well with my soul. If you're able to say that, would you stand with me, if you're able, and sing together this wonderful hymn of the faith? Yeah. When peace like a ribbon.
Diver attendeth my way when sorrows like seed billows roll my lot thou hast taught me to say it is well it is well with my soul it is well with my soul it is well it is well with my soul though say Great and should Profit, though trials should come. Let this blessed assure uncontrolled that Christ has regarded my helpless day and has shed his own blood for my soul. It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul. Oh, how blessed our His glorious thought, my sin. Not in parts, but the holy nail to the cross, and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. And Lord hates the day when the fate shall decide the clouds be roll. Back as a scroll, the drum shall resound, even so it is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. Well, Randy, that was a wonderful eulogy. Appreciate that. Please bow with me for this closing prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, Today we lift up. your child joining. Johnny was a good Wonderful. And God free and woman. She loved the Lord.
with all her heart and mind doing her love in this world. Lord, take John into your kingdom. and bless her with eternal life. And then they knew and heavenly body. Johnny, did your work here in this world in many different ways?
She did it joyfully. And without any hesitation. Joni was an inspiration to all of us. and showed us how a godly life Shall be lift. Let us all learn from her.
Lord, we will miss Joani in these days, months, and years ahead. But we will know that she is in your presence. Bless her. Keep her, and let your light shine up on her. And forever and ever.
Lord, we also lift up to you, Randy. And the family. Comfort them in this time of grief and loss. Give them all strength and perseverance. In the days ahead.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen and amen.
