Carla Rodeffer - May 31, 2020

Graveside for Carla Rodeffer

It is a strange thing to be here today having to say good-bye to Carla Rodeffer. Carla was such a big presence and someone you were always glad to see even though you knew she was going to give you a hard time about something. To think her presence will no longer be here is pretty devastating.

The Bible gives us comfort at this time,

In Psalm 49:15 we read

But as for me, God will redeem my life.

He will snatch me from the power of the grave.

Hopefully you are familiar with these verses in Romans 8

I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

I don't think Carla Rodeffer would ever tell you she thought she deserved Heaven. She knew she was not a prototypical Christian. She could be a little "rough" at times. (Kerry would say, she was just mean! . . . but he says it affectionately!) I believe Carla understood that we are saved because Jesus died for sinful people and extend to us a grace we do not deserve and could never earn. Carla, I believe, trusted Christ as her Savior and Lord. She would periodically comment on something I wrote on Facebook. For a long while she came to church regularly. She went through our Membership Class and joined the church. I feel a strong confidence that Carla is now with her Lord.

This is not to say Carla didn't have her weaknesses. She could be painfully blunt (and wasn't the least bit sorry about it). Carla liked to have fun. She was really funny, I always looked forward to seeing her because I knew she would have some kind of snide comment as she left the church.

She grew up out in the country. She stayed with the neighbors often as the kids went back and forth to stay at each other's home on the weekends.

Carla graduated from La Harpe High School in 1974, went off to beauty school and after that went on to be a Registered Nurse. She served as the medical person/trainer for the football team for 15 years between 1995-2010. One of the things the football team loved about her is her tough, take no prisoners approach to things. When she would go out onto the field to check on player her philosophy was pretty simple . . . can you still move the limb, can you still walk? Then you are OK. Even when her own son, Bryan broke his kneecap during a game, she said, "If you can move it, you can play."

Carla would just walk through the guys locker room. If guys scrambled to put their clothes on, she just said, "You don't have anything I haven't seen before." Once the center got kicked in the groin and was rolling on the ground in pain. She asked, somewhat less delicately, if he got caught in the groin. The guys nodded and she asked, "Do you want me to rub it for you?" This made the young man laugh and said through the laughter, "Don't make me laugh, that makes it hurt more!" (I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that Carla already knew that is what would happen.)

Carla did not put up with whining. Kerry got hit in the eye with a baseball and fractured his eye socket. When Carla asked about his injury, he told her about the eye socket and said, "You'll be fine, stop your whining."

She wasn't the kind of nurse most people want but IS the kind of nurse most of us need. Carla was a nurse for 30 years. She worked for Memorial hospital for many and in many different capacities over the years.

Carla was working for Heartland Rehab when she got sick. The virus hit Heartland hard. Carla knew about the risk, but she felt she had a job to do and she cared for her patients.

In John 15:13, Jesus said, "Greater love has no man than this: that a man would lay down his life for his friends." Carla was not intimidated by the virus. It seems she had too many other things wrong with her to be able to fight back when it came after her."

Carla also loved to garden and cook. She was an avid St. Louis Cardinal fan. She also loved to golf. She also loved spending time with her friends Dennis and Nancy.

She raised Bryan as a single mom and worked hard to make sure he never felt like he was cheated by only having one parent.

She was a woman who was forward thinking.. She did not sit around and mourn or focus on what was past or what "could have been." She kept focused on what was ahead. She was a doer and fun in whatever she did.

She certainly would tell us today not to mope around. I suspect she'd say, "Hey, it happened, deal with it and move on."

We will miss Carla greatly.

We stand here today, hopefully, not filled with despair but with gratitude and hope. We are grateful for two things: we are grateful for Carla's life and we are grateful for God's promise that there is life beyond the grave through Christ for those who receive and embrace the gift of eternal life.

When Jesus died on the cross He paid for our sin and made it possible for God to see us without any sin. The only requirement: believe and follow. The kind of faith that Jesus calls for is more than a profession or an experience. He is looking for the kind of faith that says: "I am going to bet my life on Jesus." I believe Carla had this kind of faith.

Paul wrote,

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Cor 5:1)

In John 14 Jesus said,

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

It was the apostle Paul who said, "for me to live is Christ, to die is gain." Carla may be gone but, in many respects, she did not LOSE her battle with illness. She gained her victory with the Lord.

Carla came into the world on May 13, 1956 and left this world to be with the Lord on May 31st 2020. In between those dates she lived a full and busy life. but even more than that she impacted thousands of lives during her life. She lived well. I, and I hope you, look forward to seeing her again in the Father's house.

Until then may she remind us to stop whining, keep going, work hard, speak honestly, care deeply, and give people a hard time every chance we get. As we do these things we will remember the impact she had on ourlives and give thanks to God for her life.

Let's pray together,

Father you enriched our lives through Carla Rodeffer. Thank you. We ask today that you assure our hearts and lift our spirits with the knowledge that Carla is with you . . . more alive than at any other time.

I also ask you to bring comfort to Bryan and Lauren in this time when life has such a big empty hole in it. Fill them, and these relatives and friends, with wonderful memories and great stories to keep Carla's memory vibrantly alive until we, who come to you for salvation and new life, are together again in the Father's' house. We ask this in Jesus name.