Polly Holt Funeral

Announce social distancing: As everyone is arriving, I need to ask you all to be mindful of social distancing. There will be elderly people present and the last thing we want to do at a funeral is cause another one.

Song: Raise a Hallelujah

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My memories of Polly: Spunky: determined, courageous. Feisty: lively, determined, and courageous. (This reminded me of Kaye Carter’s post about Polly helping push Kaye out of her shell).

Happy, Smiley, Confident, Kind and compassionate. I got a chance to meet her dad the other day and couldn’t help but notice the resemblance. She had her father's eyes. But more importantly, she had her heavenly father’s heart, which explains the happy, smiley, kind, and compassionate character she so comfortably and confidently displayed.

Unexpected deaths seem so much harder to deal with than ones you've had time to prepare for, but the truth is, you're never really prepared for a loved one to die. It's hard to picture life without them, but in reality, Polly is more alive now than she's ever been. She has stepped out of death into life. She is sitting in the very presence of Life Himself, or more probably singing and dancing in his presence.

Charlie wanted to make sure the Gospel was shared today. Polly was in love with Jesus, and would have wanted every opportunity to share this love with others. During Charlie’s daily quite time, his morning devotion on the day of Polly’s death read as follows:

“Revelation closes with God’s kingdom on earth, celebration, and God tabernacling with His people in the Holy City, as it is written, ‘Behold the tabernacle of God is with men.’” and also ”Revelation closes with .. the day of eternity...’and they shall reign forever and ever.’ You see, the purposes of God have only perfect endings. And so for those who let Him write their story, the ending is the same … perfect. The ending … is heaven.”

We know that Polly is in heaven right now. Not because she lived a perfect life, not because she never made mistakes, not even because her life was full of good deeds. She is there for one reason and one reason only, Jesus. She believed in Jesus with all her heart.

Jesus said in John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me will live even if he dies.”

You can’t earn your way into heaven. That’s what’s so beautiful about the gospel, Jesus earned it for you.

The Gospel simply means, the good news, God loves you. God is for you, not against you. God forgives you, and wants a relationship with you. So much so, that He gave his only son Jesus to die in your place, so that you may believe in him and let him come write his story in your life. He wants to know you, and wants to give you an eternity to know him. The death of our physical body is not the end.

Knowing where Polly is, who she's with, and being sure of the fact we will see her again, brings us great comfort. Her physical absence here, however, leaves a painful void in our hearts and our lives. It is this void, that is the very proof that Polly understood the true meaning of life. What good is life if its not shared? She got that from her heavenly father also.

Our death should leave a void in other people's lives. If it doesn't, we did something wrong. It's the size of that void that indicates how big of an impact we had on those around us.

The loss of a loved one is a burden too heavy to carry alone. That's where family comes in. That's where friends and loved ones come in. To support each other at our best and worst of times.

During a conversation between Polly and her daughter in law, Sam, Polly had specifically requested for Sam to Sing a hymn at her funeral. Sam agreed to it but made Polly promise it wouldn’t be for a long time… we never know the day nor the hour but thankfully we know the destination. As Sam is singing this hymn, I’d like to ask you to ponder the moments of impact that Polly had in your life. At the end of the song, we are going to give you an opportunity to come up and share your story of Polly’s imprint on your life.

Sister Sam is going to sing “Great is thy faithfulness”