A Faithful Servant

Today I, along with many others, attended the funeral service for Virginia Micheletti at the Brownstown, IL convention grounds.  Virginia was 98 years old and a "nobody" as far as this world is concerned.  However, she spent her life serving the Lord and giving herself to His work here on the earth; she is known to Him, and there is no greater thing that we could ever wish for.  Her body will be laid to rest on Monday in a cemetery in Benton, IL, but her influence will linger with those for and with whom she labored in lifetime.

Virginia was in my home field the year after I graduated from high school, and I can still see her standing behind the microphone at Gospel Meeting, sharing the story that she loved so well.  We knew before we got to meeting that she would speak from one of four or five different places in the Bible.  We knew the stories she would tell.  We knew what hymn she would choose.  And yet, it was alive every time, and we just wanted to hear again.

After I was in the Work, Sharon Rostad and I went to visit Virginia in the nursing home in Effingham.  When we got to her room, she was poring over her Bible, her nose nearly touching the magnifying glass that was pressed up against the page.  She didn't even notice us come in.  During our visit, she told us about Italy and the good years she had spent there, the work that had been accomplished.  As we were leaving, we told her that we would come to see her again sometime.  Her response was, "Well, call before you come.  You never know when they'll give me a companion again, so I might not be here."  She was content to be there, just ready to go again if she was needed.  I love the picture I have in my mind's eye of her standing at the door waving to us as we walked to the car.

As we sang hymn #81 at her funeral today, I could just hear Virginia, see her pointing us to the precious footprints of our Savior.  They were a treasure to her, and I deeply want to count them the same.