A Life

Our little church lost one of our dearest members early this morning.  I don't often mention complete names in this little blog, but I just want to tell the world (all five of you that read this!) how much we all loved Mrs. Ruby Haynes.  Ruby would have been 98 next month.  She had been a member of our church for 67 years.  She never met a stranger in all that time.  When visitors came to our church, she was the first to greet them and make them feel welcome.  Half of the church called her Aunt Ruby.

She loved Jesus even more than she loved people, and she was never shy about singing His praises.  If the pastor asked for testimonies from the congregation, she was the first to stand and tell everyone how much she loved her Saviour.  If she met someone at the grocery store, she never failed to ask if they had a home church, and, if not, invite them to ours.

Up until just a few years ago, she was still volunteering for everything that went on at church, and she could work rings around us younger ones.  She still taught her Ladies' Sunday School class up until just a few months ago.

She was especially dear to me, because she was one of the remaining few in our church who remembered my parents, and she often shared her memories of them with me.

And she always told me she loved me.  Well, okay, she loved everybody.  And I'm pretty sure that each of us thought we were her favorite person in the world.

She smiled.  A lot.  And that made the rest of us smile.

She wasn't completely perfect, though.  She was a real human being, and she could sometimes sound a little sharper than she intended.  But, whenever she felt that she had hurt someone, it broke her heart.


I have often said that I want to be just like Ruby when I grow up.

I think it's past time for me to start.

Do you have a home church?  Let me tell you about my Saviour...

Ruby Haynes February 19, 1919 - January 19, 2017

from our church's facebook page:

          Our sweet Miss Ruby Haynes went home to Jesus early this morning. She was an active member of Harmony Baptist Church for 67 years. Miss Ruby taught Sunday School, VBS, volunteered at the Center of Hope, was a devoted prayer warrior and always told people about Jesus.

She "always told people about Jesus."  Yes, Lord, I want to  be like her.