“I figured if the Bible said to obey and honor your parents, I’d live a long time”. 

This was the response given to the question posed to my great aunt Esther when The Flint Journal reporter interviewed her for her 100th birthday celebration. She was asked “why do you think you lived to be 100 years old?” Always fast on her feet with witty remarks, Aunt Esther was actually paraphrasing three verses from the Book of Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 1 through 3: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother–which is the first commandment with a promise–so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy a long life on the earth”.

My great aunt was quite the character. She had a mischievous twinkle in her eyes at all times. She was a woman of modesty and what we’d call “old fashioned” tendencies. In her 100 years of life I never saw her in a pair of slacks. She always wore dresses. Her long hair was styled in a messy bun. She was gentle yet firm in her beliefs and expectations of others like the time she “chewed” out my Uncle Lyle for wearing a pair of shorts on one of his visits to her. I’m thinking the visit may have fallen on a Sunday when more “godly rules” were followed. Not to be outwitted by her, Uncle Lyle wore his Air Force dress uniform to her 100th party and asked her “is my attire suitable now, Aunt Esther?” 

My beloved aunt was an evangelist in her own right. She and Uncle Alvis lived in a very small home. During the summer months the garage was used to invite the neighborhood children in for her own version of Vacation Bible School. If the garage wasn’t available, her back porch and small yard became her backdrop for teaching numerous children Bible stories and God’s plan of salvation. Many of those children were influencers in their families and often parents came into a relationship with Christ because of Aunt Esther’s passion for reaching children with the gospel message. In fact, she and several families were the founding members of the current Court Street Church of God in Flint, which was the host building for her 100th birthday. Many of those children–adults by then–attended her party, surrounding her once again to be loved and teased.

She and Uncle Alvis were not blessed with children of their own. Yet, in addition to loving several generations of kids in their neighborhood, they also fostered children who needed a loving secure environment. She was also the sister to my dad’s mother who came to the farm to care for the family each time my grandmother had given birth to a new child. She is credited with holding newborn David, naming him David Paul and declaring that “this one” would grow to be a man in Christian ministry. God heard her proclamation and indeed my Uncle David was a minister in the Free Methodist Church for his entire pastoral career.

Aunt Esther and her wonderful life examples came back in a flood of memories this morning–Wednesday– after my reading schedule took me to Psalm 119. It’s a long chapter and as I read through all the verses I noted five words that occur quite often…Laws, Commands, Precepts, Decrees, Statutes. Obviously, the psalmist is referring to these as belonging to God and a common denominator I also noticed is the concept of “obedience”.  Along with obeying there are also promises such as by following His commands we can have a fulfilling life. His precepts offer divine instructions to guide behavior and practices. Decrees give us God’s eternal plan and purpose, encompassing everything that comes to pass. His laws outline His will and expectations for believers.

O, that it is “that” easy to obey all that God desires for us. Somehow my only memories of Aunt Esther are wrapped in all things positive. As much as I’d like to think in fairness to her as merely another imperfect person in need of a savior, I can’t recall any negative traits or memories of her being nothing short of loving, kind, and passionate for Jesus. 

I certainly have no idea what heaven is like. I know Jesus said He would “go and prepare a place for His children”…mansions with many rooms is how John describes God’s house. Heaven sounds like a pretty grand place. It’s where my Aunt Esther has been for a few years now and when I close my eyes I can see her sitting on a chair or her back porch, Bible in her lap, maybe a flannel graph board, to tell the children at her feet all the wonderful stories from scripture that talk about God’s love, how special they are in His sight, and I’m willing to bet she reminded all of them to “obey their parents”….

Ample time on warm summer days. A garage or a porch. A few supplies. Maybe some lemonade and cookies. A Bible with worn pages. A twinkle in your eye that was magnetic. A big warm hug. These simple things were all that Aunt Esther needed to fulfill her purpose in God’s plan. Visualizing what her day must have looked like makes me smile and wonder….is she sitting on a small porch in heaven enjoying the fruit of her labors? Or did God promote her to a larger one to accommodate all the souls she won to Christ? Is she still adorned in a modest dress with a messy bun, her thick glasses almost hiding the twinkle in her eyes? Or, is she wearing a white robe of righteousness with her promised “new body”? No matter the reality of heaven and what I think it may look like…I’m excited one day to see her and get one of her “big hugs” along with “hello, Susie”…..