Memorial Service

Donna L. Pennington-Sowers

January 12, 1956 – March 21, 2009

The family of Donna Sowers invites you to join with them as they remember and celebrate the life of their beloved wife, mother, daughter, sister

June 6, 2009 - 11:00 a.m.  

Oak Grove Baptist Church

2106 Churchville Road; 

Bel Air, Maryland 21015

Note:  If any of the readers of this blog would like to share a favorite memory of Donna at the memorial, please contact me (email: baw2b@comcast.net).  Also, if you are unable to attend and have a memory you'd like to have shared, please send me an email and I will add it to the program.

Donna is still touching lives!

For those of you who are on facebook, you may have already seen this post on my page. However, I wanted to post it here also for those not on FB.

The background is that our pastor is teaching a seminar entitled Conversational Evangelism. The purpose is to teach you how to share your faith in a manner that is, as the title suggests, just a simple conversation with someone.

Yesterday evening, I had an opportunity to do just that. God used not only the information I picked up at the seminar, but also used Donna. It was totally cool.

I attended the conversational evangelism seminar at OG yesterday afternoon for what I thought was one reason--to record the seminar for later posting on the website. This evening, I discovered God had another reason for me to be there. He had a plan that involved both Donna and that seminar.

You probably remember the note I posted a few weeks ago about Donna entitled, Do You Remember Me? In that note, I talked about the angel necklace I now wear. This evening, I ran into a gentleman who made comment about the necklace. I told him about the background, how it had belonged to my sister and was given to me on the day of her funeral in March. I then explained why I allow it to be tangled with the cross necklace. God then set my brain in motion and the CE seminar information kicked in. I was able to relax and "conversationally evangelize" with this man.

I learned that he was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, which set him off into a world of heavy drinking. He started attending AA and was able to get sober. He talked about how he lost two jobs to his drinking, and now that he is sober is rebuilding his career. He talked about how he found a "higher power." I think he was afraid to mention God, so I did. I told him our hope rests in the Lord. We talked for little bit longer, and then with tears in his eyes he thanked me for talking to him and walked away saying he is learning that there really is hope in the world that he had come to hate so much.

I don't know if I was the "7.6th" time he has been evangelized, or the first, or the tenth. All I do know is that God allowed me the blessing of meeting this stranger and using me as a vessel to show His love.

We never know when God is going to use us. I encourage all of you to attend the CE seminar next week at 4 p.m. in EB3. Sharing your faith does not have to be scary, nor does it have to be "Bible-thumping."

You never know what a simple smile and "hello" to a stranger on the street will lead you.~


bev~

The Bridge of Memory

I sat down this morning to write my thank-you notes (I know...I'm behind, as usual). One of the cards I received from a couple at church made me stop and reflect. The words were just so beautiful and seemed to be written especially for Donna. The ironic thing is that this couple didn't really know Donna. They cannot know exactly how perfectly the card they sent describes her.

The Bridge of Memory

The voice of someone beautiful is silent,
and yet her presence seems so real and clear.
The smile that always filled a room with sunshine
at any time, it seems, could reappear.

With every thought of her,
it seems the sadness becomes a wider,
deeper stream of loss.
Yet, memory builds a bridge of healing comfort,
from here to her, for loving hearts to cross.

Thank you, Lord, for sending friends into our lives who can pick us up and carry us through when we don't have the strength to carry on.

~bev~

Good Day Sunshine!

Okay, I know some of them (the Beetles) weirded out in their old age, but many probably say the same of me. Anyway, I talked to at least 3 people today (not counting myself) who were just having a hard day. On top of bigger issues, it has rained for 40 days and 40 nights (it seems) here, and we all just have the blues. So...like the song says, I need to laugh, and if nothing else, the Beetles "do's" have to bring a smile. Love to all and--Good Day, Sunshine!

He is Risen! Hallelujah!

Thank you Lord for your Son. Thank you Jesus for your gift of life, for the promise and hope you give to all today. Thank you for your open arms dear Lord. For the comfort you bring, the peace and the love. Though our loss is still fresh and our hearts still ache, thank you Lord that we can today rejoice and be at peace knowing our sister's voice rings out in Heaven today. Thank you Lord for your Word, and for the truth of John 3:16, through which we know Donna lives today with You. Others suffer today Lord that do not know you as we do, and we pray this Easter they will find the comfort and solace and peace that only you can provide.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Good Friday

There was great sorrow and travail that day. During the awful physical darkness from noon to 3:00 p.m. (Matthew 27:45), Jesus had cried out in utter anguish: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). The earth itself shook and rumbled as the creation was torn asunder in reaction to the horrific judgment of the Creator for sin (Matthew 27:51).

But then came the victory cry, "It is finished" (John 19:30), and, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46). His suffering ended, the payment completed, eternal propitiation accomplished, Jesus laid down His human life to await the great resurrection that God might give "assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead" (Acts 17:31).

The above is taken from the article Why It Was a 'Good' Friday, which can be found in its entirety at http://www.icr.org/article/why-it-was-good-friday/.

As I read those words this morning, thinking of the incredible sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, I was also reminded of Donna. All glory, laud, and honor to the Lord. I am awed and grateful for His sacrifice, paving the way for us to Heaven, so that we can all be together again one day.

Happy "Resurrection" weekend to all,
Bev

Being from the East Coast, I sometimes forget that not everyone experiences the wonder of four distinctly different seasons. Yes, during the dog days of August I yearn for the crisp November evenings...and then in the chill of February I wish I lived in San Diego where it is 70 degrees every day. But for experiencing life in all its forms you can't beat the Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter seasons. And that is the way I have always thought of it -- Spring, new life begins in a gentle form, reaching out, yearning to grow, beautiful things blossoming all around. And Summer, bursting with excitement and activity, freedom through vacations from school or work, fun! Then the Fall, when the colors peak and then start to fade, life slows a little, we take more time. Finally, Winter arrives, it is cold, desolate, and death comes to many things.

I always thought of it that way until just now. Sitting here in the post dinner hour, in the quiet and thinking about the coming Easter Sunday. Our first holiday without Donna. Not that she had come home for Easter in the recent years--her home was in Virginia. But we always talked, she would call Mom's or we would call her, and then the great passing of the phone began. Mom, then Dad, through the sisters, then brother, and then each and every niece and nephew within shouting distance got a turn. Maybe just a minute or two for each, but we could really pack some catching up and love into those minutes. I was thinking those silent minutes will stretch across the day and really our lives now. I miss that call already and it is still a week away.

And then I began thinking about something Bev said recently -- that God knew thousands of years ago that Donna would be called home to Heaven on March 21, 2009. He certainly did! The first day of Spring just coming to a close, and the promise of Easter unfolding before us. Donna had reached the final season of her earthly life, but it wasn't winter--it was Spring! And as she left us her new life began, with things so beautiful bursting before her that we can only try to imagine, until we join her.

I know the phone will still be silent and there will be an ache for something else Bev said -- one more, just one more. But we will have to wait, and we can, with joy in our hearts because Jesus kept his promise. The tomb is empty, Spring awaits us in Heaven, and we truly have the peace that passes all understanding. I pray this peace and joy for everyone this Easter.

Love, Jan