Cheryl's Graveside

Obituary

Cheryl Ann French, 63, passed away peacefully, after battling a long illness, on June 20, 2022, at a family home in Orland. She was born Feb. 25, 1959, in Bangor, the daughter of Phillip R. French Sr. and Sandra J. (Benson) French.

Cheryl graduated from MDI High School, Class of 1977. She went on to work most of her career in the medical field, doing home health care and hospice, helping others.

Cheryl was an avid crocheter and enjoyed making beautiful afghans and sweaters for her family. She had a love for cats throughout her life.

Cheryl was a beloved mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, aunt and was a second mother to so many.

Cheryl is survived by her much loved daughter, SaraRose French; her grandchildren Athena Sadler and Henry Bray; her mother, Sandra French, and stepmother, Florence French; her siblings, brother, Phillip French Jr. and wife, Cindy; sisters, Cathleen Newbegin and Jennifer French

; her nieces and nephews Keith French, Kelly Mastran and husband, Jeremy, April Cunningham and fiancé Adam Fitzgerald, Jessica Pao and husband, San, Dacatur French, Dakotah French, Cayla French and husband, Iain Richardson, many great nieces and nephews and a special cousin, Sandra Bauer, and family. Cheryl was predeceased by her father, Phillip French Sr., her brother, Thomas French; brother-in-law, Jeffrey Newbegin; nephew, Christopher Cunningham; and a special aunt, Virginia Wilbur.

There will be a reception afterward at her Aunt Ginny’s camp on Webb Pond, a place she loved.

Pastor Andy Bauer

Laying to rest

We are here to lay to rest the Body of Cheryl Ann French

Paul calls our body a tent. Something that is very temporary

Cheryl is to receive a new permanent body made for eternity by God.

Death is but going across the front porch into eternity

From one life to the next.

John 11:25 LEB

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live,

Grieve

We are here Grieve, to say goodbye to Cheryl Ann French and we will miss you terribly

Like The poet King David ,.. He is in terrible anguish, and he is crying out to God for comfort in his grief

Psalm 102:1–7 (NASB95)

1 Hear my prayer, O Lord!

And let my cry for help come to You.

2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress;

Incline Your ear to me;

In the day when I call answer me quickly.

3 For my days have been consumed in smoke,

And my bones have been scorched like a hearth.

4 My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away,

Indeed, I forget to eat my bread.

5 Because of the loudness of my groaning

My bones cling to my flesh.

6 I resemble a pelican of the wilderness;

I have become like an owl of the waste places.

7 I lie awake,

I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.

...We feel the same way, we are that lonely bird

We are here grieving, saying I love you and miss you

But David knew his Lord, His Shepherd So He also penned these words

The familiar words of comfort and hope

Knowing that God is taking care of us

Knowing That God is the one who’s watching over us

Knowing that the great Shepherd is also our shepherd

Psalm 23 (AV)

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:

he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:

for thou art with me;

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil;

my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Remembering

The Gospel

If By the Grace of God, The Holy, Sovereign, creator of the universe

Would allow Cheryl to come back and tell us one thing

it would be about

The Death of Jesus

but before we talk about the death of Jesus, we have to acknowledge our own deadness

we are born with a genetic defect that Adam gave to us-- called sin

Romans 3:23 (NASB95)

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:10 LEB

just as it is written, “There is no one righteous, not even one;

And we have no way of being in heaven unless we as Holy as God

And God is an absolutely Holy God

So we have a problem, We are born in sin, and we have sinned all of our lives

But God provided a way for us to be with Him

Jesus, God came to earth and became a man so that He could die for our sins

Be our substitute, to die in our place

because..

Romans 6:23 (NASB95)

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God has provided a free gift, a new life, an adoption into the family of God

John 3:16 (NASB95)

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

We have to put our trust in Jesus to save us

We need to call upon Jesus like a drowning man in the water and he is calling upon a passing ship to save him

Ephesians 2:8 (NASB95)

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God

If Cheryl could come back and tell us one thing it would be this

because no matter what this life holds, the ups and downs,

the pain and laughter

Joy or Sadness

nothing compares with eternity

Calling upon,.. crying out to Jesus for salvation is the most important thing anybody could do