Geneva Katherine Hughes

November 13, 1923 - September 12, 2008


We had the funeral for my grandmother on Monday. Yes, thanks to Hurricane Ike it was 10 days after she passed. I had the awesome honor and privilege to share at her funeral service. I have had several people ask me for the notes I used so I thought I would post them for anyone who wanted them.

Good morning, I have been asked to share with you by the family. You know you can learn a lot about what brings someone comfort as they are walking through hard times by looking to see what they keep near them. My grandmother had a devotional book given to her by her daughter Laura. There were several prayers in the book that were specifically marked.

One particular prayer was not only marked but also had the books’ ribbon marking the page. I would like to read that specific prayer: When I Need Greater Faith – Lord, I need the faith to believe that I can be victorious over everything that opposes me. Give me faith that does not fear death at all because I know that You will be the first face I see in heaven. Help me to believe without doubt that You are my healer and deliverer. Help me to have faith that You will never leave me or forsake me. My faith in You has saved me for eternity. May my faith in you be big enough to save me from myself now.

We wanted to share that specific prayer with you because we know this prayer brought her much comfort and hope as she battled terminal cancer. We also believe that on Saturday, September 6th my grandmother had an experience with Jesus where everything she was praying for was fulfilled.

That morning Laura witnessed my grandmother singing and praising Jesus. The nurse asked her Mrs. Hughes do you know where you are and she smiled and said yes, I am in Heaven. Laura asked her what does it look like and she said it is so beautiful, the flowers are beautiful, Jesus is so beautiful and he has such a bright light around him. Laura asked her momma are you afraid and she said no I am not afraid Jesus loves me so much.
A couple of minutes later Laura asked her where she was she said I am sitting at a table with Jesus and Jesus loves me so much. The rest of that day her face was glowing and she was radiant. Later on that day my mom Darlene asked her about what she experienced in heaven. Grandmother once again talked about how beautiful it was and that she had seen my grandfather Harry there. Grandma became very emotional and said it is so hard to describe to you in words how beautiful heaven is. Grandma said again I saw Jesus and he told me how very much he loves me and that he is waiting on me.

Several days later the Dr. came in and told her that she could not with stand any more radiation treatments. The final step was to call in Hospice or transfer her to their clinic they used for terminal patients. When the Dr. left my mom Darlene put her hands on grandma’s knees and said I love you momma. Grandma held my mom and began praying. She said, Jesus this is a dark time but I know because You are with me I can get through this and then she prayed that her kids would be strong during this time. At the end of the prayer she looked at my mom and said you know honey it is all about forgiveness. Shortly after that she quickly went downhill becoming non-responsive and eventually going to meet Jesus.

We wanted to share that with you for a couple of reasons – everything that she had been praying in those prayers were fulfilled in that encounter. By seeing Jesus he gave her the peace that she had prayed for; she knew that HE was with her, that he was waiting on her and that he was her healer and deliverer. And the most important part was she knew how much Jesus loved her and how important forgiveness is.

I think if she were with us right now she would want to remind us of these 2 main things:
1. First, is forgiveness. She knew that through salvation Jesus had forgiven her and more importantly she knew through the experiences she had with him on that Saturday morning that he wanted her to walk in forgiveness. I encourage you today right now that if you have un-forgiveness toward someone – to forgive them. When we refuse to forgive someone it only keeps us hurting and bound up, it keeps us walking in anger – it really does not affect the person we haven’t forgiven. I know that she would want each and everyone of us to forgive - you know one of those other prayers she had marked was about letting go of anger and forgiving. In honor of her do that today – forgive anyone that you have held anger toward. Release them it doesn’t mean that what they did to you was right but don’t hold un-forgiveness toward them. Make a decision today in honor of Geneva Katherine Hughes that you are going to forgive them and release them.
2. Secondly, we believe she would want everyone here to know that Jesus loves you so much. The Bible says in Romans 8:38-39 –“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. 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.”
Whether you have ever accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior or not does not change the fact that he loves you so much. I know that Grandma would say – accept Jesus today make Him your Lord and Savior. Accept the person who loves you unconditionally, who doesn’t make you get everything “right” in our life before we come to him. The Bible says in Romans 5:8 that while we were lost in our sins Christ died for us. She would say accept that free gift of salvation today. She would not want you to miss out on the wonderful relationship with Jesus that she had here on this earth and that she is now experiencing in heaven. No amount of cards, flowers or money could honor her life more than giving your life to Jesus today.

And for those of us who have made Jesus our Lord to understand there is nothing we have done in our past that can separate us from God’s love. No amount of sin or wrongdoing can separate us from God’s love. God loves you so much and she would want you to know that today – that you can walk out of here knowing the vastness of God loves for you, that he is for you, he wants to be a part of your life and he has a great plan for you.

Lastly, she would want us to know that she is truly finally HOME. That on September 12th Jesus met Geneva Katherine Hughes face to face and that she is now enjoying the peace and beauty of heaven. Thank you.

God is so good. Through the experience she had with him she was able to be at peace those last few days PLUS it gave us the family peace as well. God did not allow her to suffer with the pain for months on end - he took her quickly and peacefully. I will miss her immensely but am so thankful she is in heaven free of pain and worshiping her savior.