Loving Deb Smith in the Breaking of Bread in Cincinnati

Blessed Dear Ones!

Following the Celebration of the Resurrection for Deb Smith in Cincinnati on Sunday, October 21, 2007 (Details on the Celebration of the Resurrection) there will be a meal and fellowship for friends and family. All are welcome.

Here are the details:

Breaking Bread in Celebration of the Resurrection

Spaghetti dinner, with garlic bread and salad
(Prepared by brothers and sisters from the Vineyard Community Church)

Vineyard Community Church (Atrium)
11340 Century Circle E.
Cincinnati, OH 45246

October 21, 2007 from 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm


Please consider preparing a refrigeration free dessert to share
-- something that works on a napkin, like cookies, brownies, lemon squares, cupcakes, etc.

Suggested donation: $7.50 per person to help cover the cost of the dinner food.

Luke 24
It was very early in the morning on the first day of the week. The women took the spices they had prepared. Then they went to the tomb.

They found the stone rolled away from it. When they entered the tomb, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. They were wondering about this.

Suddenly two men in clothes as bright as lightning stood beside them. The women were terrified. They bowed down with their faces to the ground. Then the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? Jesus is not here! He has risen! Remember how he told you he would rise. It was while he was still with you in Galilee. He said, 'The Son of Man must be handed over to sinful people. He must be nailed to a cross. On the third day he will rise from the dead.' "

Then the women remembered Jesus' words.

They came back from the tomb. They told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them were the ones who told the apostles. But the apostles did not believe the women. Their words didn't make any sense to them.

But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He bent over and saw the strips of linen lying by themselves. Then he went away, wondering what had happened.

That same day two of Jesus' followers were going to a village called Emmaus. It was about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked about those things, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them. But God kept them from recognizing him.

Jesus asked them, "What are you talking about as you walk along?"

They stood still, and their faces were sad. One of them was named Cleopas. He said to Jesus, "You must be a visitor to Jerusalem. If you lived there, you would know the things that have happened there in the last few days."

"What things?" Jesus asked.

"About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet. He was powerful in what he said and did in the eyes of God and all of the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed Jesus over to be sentenced to death. They nailed him to a cross. But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to set Israel free. Also, it is the third day since all this happened.

"Some of our women amazed us too. Early this morning they went to the tomb. But they didn't find his body. So they came and told us what they had seen. They saw angels, who said Jesus was alive. Then some of our friends went to the tomb. They saw it was empty, just as the women had said. They didn't see Jesus' body there."

Jesus said to them, "How foolish you are! How long it takes you to believe all that the prophets said! Didn't the Christ have to suffer these things and then receive his glory?"

Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures. He began with Moses and all the Prophets.

The two men approached the village where they were going. Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they tried hard to keep him from leaving. They said, "Stay with us. It is nearly evening. The day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.

He joined them at the table. Then he took bread and gave thanks. He broke it and began to give it to them. Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. But then he disappeared from their sight.

They said to each other, "He talked with us on the road. He opened the Scriptures to us. Weren't our hearts burning inside us during that time?"

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them. They were all gathered together. They were saying, "It's true! The Lord has risen! He has appeared to Simon!"

Then the two of them told what had happened to them on the way. They told how they had recognized Jesus when he broke the bread.
(NIRV)

(Thank you to Elizabeth Patten for the photographs in this post)

A love note from Tom - October 12, 2007

Dear friends in Christ,

Today my dear wife Deb went to be with Christ Jesus and the saints who have gone before us. Her healing is now complete. God's sovereign purposes are also complete. I often quoted Wimber in dealing with the tough times on Earth, "Earth aint heaven." But today I am finding comfort in being able to say "yes, but heaven is heaven." And Deb is healed, Deb is soaking in the beauty, Deb is singing with one of the awesome praise teams, Deb is telling the angels about her awesome five grandkids.

Our hearts ache. This big old farmhouse is silent but her legacy has just begun.


I do not have the words to tell all of you in the lovingdebsmith congregation what comfort we received from reading your blog entries. Our computer room is on the second floor in our home so I would have to print things out as Deb couldn't do stairs. Then Darla began bringing her laptop out and letting Deb see your letters with her own eyes. Yesterday the Holy Spirit prepared Deb for her homegoing by Darla playing a CD that brother Drew Grounds, worship leader at Central Christian Church, had made for Deb. But in the middle of it, Darla stopped and played Deb's 7 Calls To Worship, which magician Michael Cristiani reproduced on the blog. Deb could not speak the past three days. She made sounds that we tried to interpret but during one of the praise songs, she was able to sing along, by saying, "hallelu, hallelu." The hospice nurse could tell something was moving in the room and asked Deb, "What are you seeing?" Deb said, "angels." The nurse asked, "have they come for you?" She said, "not yet." At the end of that day, the nurses told us they believed she would go to be with the Lord in 24-48 hours.

At 3 am, Jordan and I decided to move her onto a pillow wedge in her bed to help relieve the coughing. In her broken language, she began to speak to Jordan and Jordan began to speak to his mother amidst the tears. He kissed and spoke of his love for his mother and began to pray for his mother. The Holy Spirit used this moment mightily for all three of us. I then gave Deb another round of meds in her IV port and then laid down with her and rubbed her head, arm and shoulders and she talked to me for quite a while also. Then she became silent but was still breathing and at about 4, I said, "If I'm going to work tomorrow, I've got to go to the couch to get a couple hours of sleep." For the past four months, I would be awakened by Deb's strange, unusual sounds. Today, the house was silent. I ran to her bed and her spirit was gone to be with Jesus.

We are sad but we are grateful because as Paul told the young church, "we are not like people of the world who die without hope."

We are going to honor Deb and her Savior in two Memorial Services, Lord willing. Next Saturday, October 20 at Grace Community Church in Mt. Vernon, Illinois at 11am and Sunday, October 21st at 3pm at New Hope Community Church , originally known by most of us at Fellowship Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

I cannot close this love note to all of you without saying thank you for your generous gifts which have enabled us to combat the financial challenges of cancer medical care. You have kept our heads afloat, financially. We are still not out of the woods, in that our insurance company has not paid the first dollar because they are still looking in Deb's medical history to find a preexisting condition. They have renegotiated some of the prices with the hospitals and testing agencies. But they are still refusing to pay real money for the outstanding bills. Again, thank you.

Let me close by saying that Deb loved teaching art at a small college--Frontier Community College. Our family is establishing a "Deb Smith Memorial Fine Arts Scholarship" in her honor and to continue her ministry of helping discover students gifted to "do art." Deb's greatest joy was discovering the kids whom God had wired up to paint, do sculpture, do architecture. The administration originally told her they had to have a Fine Arts teacher to meet Humanities requirements for the State but not to expect any one to be very serious about Art and certainly no one to go on and major in Art at a 4-year University. She and her students surprised them as she has sent, the last time we counted, nine students on to major universities in Fine Arts, Graphic Arts, Art Education and Architecture. If you want to contribute to this scholarship fund, simply make your check out to "Frontier Community College" with Deb Smith on the Memo line and mail to our home address at 10517 North Panzier Lane, Ashley, IL 62808. Thank you.

Deb and I would read the blog and we would remember you and relive stories of our young life in Christ together. And our faith would be renewed in the midst of the most vicious battle of our lives. Surely friendship in Christ is eternal. God bless you all. Tom Smith.

Home! What Joy and Sorrow!

Dear Ones,

Our sister, Deborah Ann Smith, is home with Jesus, from early this morning, October, 12, 2007. Tom and Jordan were with Deb at the time. Here is a message from Charity:

Dear friends,

It is with immeasurable sadness that we write. Our mom passed away early this morning. She passed in her sleep. Please keep us in your prayers as we plan for the future.

All our thanks, the Smith family."

Please bring Tom and the whole Smith family before the Throne of Grace.

Please watch Loving Deb Smith for details on memorials, etc., as they become available.

Hebrews 12:22-24a
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous ones made perfect, to Jesus ...

Love never fails

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, often known as Mother Teresa of Calcutta or Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, is one of Deb Smith's role models of the Christian life. In Deb Call to Worship 4, Deb reads a passage often attributed to Mother Teresa, commenting that when she reads it she often thinks, "Here's how you're supposed to look if you want to be like Jesus."

”People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people might be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see in the end, it was between you and God. It never was between you and them, anyway."

Sort of like 1 Cor 13:4-8a:

Love is patient, (Eph 4:2; 2 Peter 3:9)
love is kind. (Prov 14:21)
It does not envy, (Job 5:2)
it does not boast, (Eph 2:8-10)
it is not proud. (Ps 131:1 ; Rom 12:16)
It is not rude, (Gal 5:22)
it is not self-seeking, (Phil 2:1-11)
it is not easily angered, (Eph 4:26)
it keeps no record of wrongs. (Ps 103:11-13)
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (Rom 12:9-21)

It always protects, (Ps 116:5-7)
always trusts, (Prov 3:5-6)
always hopes, (1Pet 1:21)
always perseveres. (Heb 10:36 ; Heb 11:27 ; James 1:12; James 5:11)

Love never fails. (1John 4:16)
(1 Cor 13:4-8a)

Strength and Weakness

Dearest Ones,

Darla reports that Deb has continued to draw close to Jesus in her suffering and weakness. She rests much, continues to have extreme nausea and, consequently, difficulty eating and keeping fluids down. Please pray for her comfort:

Your hands made me and fashioned me;
Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.
May those who fear You see me and be glad,
Because I wait for Your word.
...
O may Your Lovingkindness comfort me,
According to Your word to Your servant.
May Your compassion come to me that I may live..
...
My soul languishes for Your salvation;
I wait for Your word.
My eyes fail with longing for Your word,
While I say, "When will you comfort me?"
(Ps 119: 73-74, 76-77, 81-82, NASB)

Thank You, LORD, for the honor of having such a special friend

This post is from Tami Thurston, Deb's very close friend for 30 years. It is rich in Love and understanding, and will help many to focus their prayers and deep emotions about Deb and her family during this most difficult time.

To the friends and family of Deb,

Deb has been my best friend for the best part of 30 years now. There are no words to describe the depth of the pain I feel in my heart because of the suffering of my friend. I have stayed in close touch almost daily and have watched my dear friend's body deteriorate. However, I want to tell you all how I have seen her "heart" strengthening. When she is able to talk she always wants me to read her the notes on the blog. The words of love and encouragement have blessed her greatly. She has cried many times at the outpouring of love and amidst her pain has expressed how blessed she has been to have such wonderful friends. She has marveled at the fact that so many people are praying and care enough to talk to the Lord on her behalf.

I wish I had the faith to believe that her body will be healed here on earth, but I am finding my faith is not that strong right now. Lord, please forgive me. What I do know though, without a moment of doubt, is that Deb is anxious to some day dance with Jesus and be held in His arms. She longs to rest in the Father. I also know however that she doesn't want to leave her family. Her love for Tom and her kids and grandkids is deeper than any I have ever seen. The last year has been very difficult and yet all she has ever asked me to pray is for her family to be comforted and strengthened. My prayer right now is that Deb will find a peace deep inside and will feel the love of the Father in a way that she has never felt before. I pray for her family to feel the comfort that God can give in a way man can't. I also pray that they will know deep inside that God's plan is, and will be, the perfect one for them and for Deb. I also pray for a strengthening of their family. I know one of Deb's greatest desires is for the strength of her family to continue to grow no matter what the circumstances. Lord please touch each one of her children and Tom. Allow them to feel your hand guiding them through the days to come. Send them the Comforter. Give them strength beyond what they have ever known as they are called on to care for her physical needs. Lord I ask these things in the name of Jesus.

I'm not sure what our Lord has planned for Deb's body but I do know His plan for her soul. Deb and I have talked many times about heaven, and eternity. Let me assure you all that she is so excited and anxious for the day she will receive her new body and be in His presence. (We have always been sure that's a nice thin body with good hair!)

I pray right now for the pain to subside and peace to overwhelm her. I thank you, Jesus, that Deb knows You and has taught so many of us how to live with You deep in our hearts. I thank you that she has shown me what unconditional Love is and that she has been You to me so many times. I ask You, Lord, to help those of us who love her so very much to not be angry about what's happening to her and trust that Your plan is perfect. I ask You, Lord, to remind her spirit of that and to draw her close and help her to feel You. Heal her body Lord , if that is you will. If not here on earth, then thank You for the promise that she will be healed in heaven. Lord Jesus, come quickly! Thank you for the honor of having such a special friend.

Tami

Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope

The following is a transcription of a Call to Worship given by Deb Smith at Grace Community Church in Mt Vernon, IL, and featured on the podcast player that you can find in the left side bar.

Good morning, good morning, I am reading from Jeremiah.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
(Jeremiah 29:11-13, ESV)

Let's pray.

Thank You, LORD. I thank You for the rain. And I thank You for the storms of life. And I thank You for the peace of life. And I thank You, LORD, that this is a sanctuary and that it is a safe place, and that You abide with us in this place. And I am so grateful for that, LORD, because sometimes the storms of life are real scary, and we are afraid. Thank You, LORD, that You walk with us during that time, and that You bring us to a safe place, and that simply abiding with You is a safe place. Thank you, Jesus, for the promise of a future, and the promise of hope to get there. We love you, Jesus, with all our heart, and now we come and worship You. Amen.

So, you don't drive a tractor, but you have a paint brush...

The following is parts of an e-mail Tom Smith wrote to Loving Deb Smith after an inquiry from Iris Lachey and Lisa Galbreath whether there was any "non-tractor driving" stuff do on the farms that might be helpful to Deb and Tom. [Commentary or paraphrases are brackets]

Re: Iris and Lisa's offer. . .others are also reaching out to us wanting to serve in some way on the farm. I believe what Jesus has up His sleeve is just a way to get folks over here to minister to Deb, in a way she can accept. I think the secondary purpose will be to paint a half mile fence (both sides) .

[If the primary reason folks are coming is to paint the fence, perhaps Deb would be able to handle the hub-bub more easily]

And of course everyone will have the opportunity to show up at our home each evening to eat, fellowship, pray hug on both of us, then we will smear a little paint during the day. Bring your own brush and work clothes. I'm thinkin early Sept. I've taken a new job as Farm Manager of a large farm 1300 acres, 250 cows, 11 bulls, with a mandate from the owners to not only turn her around financially, but to also restore her to her past beauty and dignity. One owner asked, "Please fix the fence and restore this old farm."

So you might pass this on, I mentioned it to Dave [Rice] and he was up for it. Hopefully others can too. Just being with folks will bless us. But Deb will need to do so in short increments. Her energy is low. George and Connie Lueking drove over and blessed us two weeks ago [all the way from Cincinnati with dinner for Tom and Deb]. We enjoyed a short dinner and then Deb thanked them and headed back to bed.

Deb has been in St. John's in St. Louis the last ten days. Nellie is here with us since yesterday. Staying in a hotel in St. Louis so she can be with her mom during the day. There is a chance she may be able to come home this weekend. Zach is planning to come over too.

We are seeking to be Christ Followers and live life one day at a time.

Thanks again ...

Hoping,

Tom

-------------

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy. I am happy because you have joined me in spreading the good news. You have done so from the first day until now. I am sure that the One who began a good work in you will carry it on until it is completed. That will be on the day Christ Jesus returns. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you. I love you with all my heart. I may be held by chains, or I may be standing up for the truth of the good news. Either way, all of you share in God's grace together with me. God can give witness that I long for all of you. I love you with the love that Christ Jesus gives.

I pray that your love will grow more and more. And let it be based on knowledge and understanding. Then you will be able to know what is best.
(Phil 1:2-10, NIV)

May God Always be Glorified!

A Call to Worship: In Him we live and move and have our being

The following is a transcript of one of Deb's Calls to Worship featured on the podcast player that you can find in the left side bar:

Halleluiah!

That used to be my Grandma Ida's favorite song. My little Grandma Ida used to sing that song. Whoo--

I want you to get a pencil out, and I want you to get a piece of paper.
Because I have something I want you to write down, to remember this week. OK?
Sorry! I didn't mean to make you work! (LOL)
You can actually use the bulletin, you know; you can write on that, (LOL) OK.

Now, I am reading from Acts 17 and I have just been enjoying reading that this week. Because it tells a story...and I like to read. So, I've been reading Acts. This Scripture, really, I have been meditating on it all week. So, write down Act 17, verse 28. Now, this is Paul and he is talking to some unbelievers about Jesus and who Jesus was, starting in verse 26:

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
[and this is what I want you to write down]
'For in him [that's in Jesus] we live and move and have our being.'
(Act 17:26-28)

Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus!
LORD, I am aware that there are many needs out in this congregation this morning ... many needs and many joys and there are many needs. And, LORD, this is a sacred time ... that we pray that you will come and touch us. Whether we have a joy ... whether we have a need ... if we are unsaved. Please come and touch us, because we know that you care about us, even as you care about the little sparrow.

Thank You, Jesus. We love You, Jesus. We love You, Jesus...

A Call to Worship: O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.

The following is a transcript of one of Deb's Calls to Worship featured on the podcast player that you can find in the left side bar:

Alright, alright, alright, we're having to much fun here.
We just love each other too much, huh. That's right.
...
I am going to read to you from Psalm 139.
I've been meditating on this this week,
and it has really had a lot meaning for me,
and I thought I would share it with you.

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
(Ps 139:1-10 NIV)

Let's pray.
Thank You, LORD, that you do hem us in,
in the front and in the back, You take care of us.
Thank You, LORD, that You know us so well;
You made us, You are our creator.
LORD, help us to bring Glory to You as we worship.
It is in Your Son's Name that we pray.
Amen

----------------
Dear Ones,

When you listen to this Call to Worship on the podcast in the left side bar, you realize that Deb is so in Love with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Glory to God! Alleluia!