Cheryl Elaine Rodriguez, 6.7.23

Welcome & Gathering

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and I am life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.

Friends, we have gathered here to praise God and to witness to our faith as we celebrate the life of Cheryl Elaine Rodriguez. We come together in grief, acknowledging our human loss. May God grant us grace, that in pain we may find comfort, in sorrow….hope, in death….resurrection.

Pray (Ruth Ann gets in place)

Hymn, Amazing Grace - Ruth Ann Person

Old Testament Scripture

Psalm 23 NIV

A psalm of David. 1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Pastoral Prayer

O God, who gave us birth, you are ever more ready to hear than we are to pray. You know our needs before we ask, and our ignorance in asking. Give to us now your grace, that as we shrink before the mystery of death, we may see the light of eternity. Speak to us once more your solemn message of life and of death. Help us to live as those who are prepared to die. And when our days here are accomplished, enable us to die as those who go forth to live, so that living or dying, our life may be in you, and that nothing in life or in death will be able to separate us from your great love in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Add prayer for family:

John

Kids: Matt and Juli and their spouses

Grandchildren: Jagger, Breck, Whitney and Sophia

Her brother, Extended family, friends, and former coworkers

Amen.

Will you join me in the Lord’s prayer as you are able:

OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE THY NAME. THY KINGDOM COME. THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD, AND FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES, AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US, AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL. FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY, FOR EVER AND EVER AMEN

Celebration of Life

Me - Obituary

Cheryl Elaine Rodriguez, 74, of Conroe, TX met her lord and savior on May 23, 2023.

Cheryl was born February 20, 1949 in Odessa, TX to Leah and JW Benson. Soon thereafter her parents moved to Lake Jackson, TX. She attended Brazos Port High School and graduated in May 1967. At a young age Cheryl learned to sew and made most of own her clothes. While she didn’t have a lot growing up, she still found joy in being creative and making her own wardrobe. Cheryl loved the beach and spent much of her free time surfing. She even liked to surf tandem on the boy’s shoulders! In August 1967 Cheryl enrolled at Southwest Texas College where she studied English and met her husband, Johnny Rodriguez.

Cheryl went on to have a teaching career for the next 28 years. She began teaching in San Antonio while Johnny finished up his last semester. After they got married, they lived in Austin for the next 3 years. Johnny received a job offer which moved them to Houston. She substituted for a few ISDs until a close friend told them about Conroe since they both had a love for the water and enjoyed water skiing. She got a job with Conroe ISD teaching third grade at Anderson Elementary and taught there for 14 years. From there, she went on to teach at Giesinger elementary until her retirement. She loved the friendships she gained over her years of teaching as well as the children she had the pleasure of educating. She had incredible patience and an ability to find the positive in every child.

Once Cheryl retired, she took up several hobbies. She became a master gardener, learned to quilt with several of her retired teacher friends, enjoyed cycling and walking with her friends in the neighborhood, and made hundreds of dresses for orphaned girls in Africa. She continued to cherish the friendships from her teaching days and would often get together with them. Cheryl loved to have fun. She was easy going and her smile was contagious. To know her, was to love her.

Cheryl is survived by her brother, Lanie Benson, beloved husband of 51 years, John Rodriguez, her children: Matt and Juli Rodriguez, her daughter-in-law, Paige Rodriguez, son-in-law Troy Rosales and 4 grandchildren: Jagger, Breck, Whitney and Sophia.

John Rodriguez

Doris Phelps

Special Music

How Great Thou Art, Ruth Ann

New Testament and Scripture

John 14:23–27 NIV

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Pray.

Cheryl Rodriguez

What an honor and joy to get to know this special woman over the last couple of weeks.

I think there is something quite special in these moments where the testimony of someone’s life is that she was the same good inside her home as she was in the world. We know what it’s like to love a parent and think the world of them....but for someone to have that effect on everyone is truly remarkable.

John told me a story of being at the mall and a former student recognizing her and giving her a big hug and expressing what she meant to him.

She loved her kids and really loved you grandkids. The house had to be a place where the grandkids could come and have fun. I relate to this because I had two different grandparents homes....there was the fun one and the one where everything was breakable and we couldnt touch anything.

I am grateful for all the stories and pictures that tell the story of God’s love in Cheryl. Two words came to mind as I was listening and praying in preparation for today:

Advocate and Intentional

Advocate:

Cheryl was an advocate for everyone she had the oppotunity to love and serve, whether that was in the home, the neighborhood, the classroom, or supporting orphans all of her life.

Matt shared the following:

She believed in helping those less fortunate, though she didn't make much on a teachers salary.  I remember as a young child she would give money each month to orphaned children, and she never stopped her entire adult life.  She sewed dresses and quilts, hundreds upon hundreds of them over the years, donating them anonymously to the needy.

What a wonderful witness of the power of advocacy and love. This world and other’s lives were a little brighter because of Cheryl.

Intentional:

Cheryl was intentional. There is a difference in being a parent that is present and a parent that is intentional. One who can bring to life the deep gifts of her children. The same in a classroom applies. Teachers that are knowledgable and understand educational theory, and then there are educators that find the hidden gems in a child’s life and uncover it for the world.

Again Matt shared:

She had an exceptional gift for finding joy in others happiness.  She didn't just listen to you, she made a point to know you.  And if you were down, instead of drowning in your sorrows, she consoled with hope and warmth of positivity.  She had a special way of making you feel better.

I dont know all the reasons that Cheryl was this way. Family you probably have a better feel for that. But I do know all of the reasons are rooted in a God who loved Cheryl and that love being received and extended into the world.

That’s what makes today unfair, difficult, painful. Grief and Hope mixed together.

Peace I leave with you

The text I read from John 14 would have the disciples feeling the beginning of a similar emotion. Jesus is preparing them for his death, resurrection, and departure. He is trying to teach them and prepare them for the mission that Jesus is now passing on to them. In the next few days they would see their leader die and that would be excruciating. Then Jesus knows they will have difficult days ahead as well and Jesus promises Peace….His peace.

Reminder today that God can be trusted in this space. A few observations, from the text:

1. His peace is unlike peace of this world

a. He has conquered death itself and is the resurrection. He has walked through the darkest valley so that in our dark valleys, we know we are not alone. Jesus has the last word…this is the only way that he can say....peace I give to you and it can mean anything really when our hearts are broken.

b. His peace is comprehensive. Not just a rest…but deeper than that. Biblical peace is about a setting things right that are wrong. Rebuilding and restoring. The world promises allusions of peace…but goodness we know anything resembling peace is fleeting and difficult to grasp. God’s peace, even if hard to grasp right now is comprehensive.

God is not in the business of making life all copasetic for everyone… God is in the business of turning this rotten fallen world around. Rebuilding.

C. One of the images of peace in the bible is of a rebuilding of a wall that has been broken. Pieces missing and the wall has lost its integrity. God promises peace which is the setting right and rebuilding.

Family: God can and will rebuild what is broken here. It will also be different than it was before. Cheryl was a foundation and glue for all of you…

but her absence does not mean what was invested is gone. God can use the parts of Cheryl in all of you to restore

2. He is sending the advocate, the Holy Spirit, the testify to our hearts.

But God is not just an outside player in this story. He gives of his Spirit on those days when you just can’t. He promises to join them in the darkness.

3. And he is preparing a place for all of us that are in Christ Jesus. Cheryl is with the Lord. To be absent from the body is to be with the Lord.

· Earlier in this text there is the guy named Thomas who begins to challenge Jesus… Wait youre leaving? Let us go with you! Jesus speaks words to Thomas so that we might hear them today… I am the way, the truth, and the life. Cheryl came to that realization, so even today we can hold onto that piece of hope.

So....Jesus offers them peace in their struggle. That peace is comprehensive, it is tied to his presence

Peace conditioned only by God’s presence with his people. Not on circumstances

“Total well being, prosperity, and security associated with God’s presence among his people.”

· It’s the peace that even when things are not all alright…we still know he is with us.

This is the steady and reliable truth today.

Today, might feel like the world is a little less bright. But that fraction of her in all of you is not a static thing. If that fraction is rooted in God’s love then it has the same flourishing potential to grow and impact the world.

We mourn but not without hope this day.

Cheryl, rest in peace, rise in glory.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Hymn

On Eagles Wings

Ruth Ann, have them seated

Benediction

The peace of God He which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.