Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100
Pauline passed into the presence of our God and King last night at 10:35 in fulfillment of the promise made to each of us that trusts Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives. She had placed her faith in Jesus when she was a girl as she walked to school one day. The kids and I went to visit Pauline yesterday afternoon. After a three hours visit I took them home and had just returned at Vicki's request. Vicki was holding her mom's hand and singing hymns to her when Pauline slipped peacefully from her sick body.
I have really struggled with what to write about Pauline's health all month. It has been hard to be accurate without sounding insensitive or pessimistic. Several times over the last three and a half weeks we've had glimpses of hope that she would at least stabilize and stay with us for a while longer. Even earlier this week, when we knew her death was imminent, we felt she would be with us through this weekend which is why Will, Darice, and the kids returned home Wednesday. They were on the road coming back here when Pauline passed away.
It is also hard to write about Pauline's passing on this blog knowing that this will become a record my family and I will look back on in the years to come. There is such a finality to reading what I have just written. It is one thing to pass the word along by phone or email, but it's different for me when I sit down to write here. Tears do not come easily for me when I am sad, but when I have written about Aunt Ruth's, Uncle Paul's, and now Pauline's deaths I have wept.
I remember first meeting Pauline when I went home with Vicki to Camden. It was June 1992 and we had just started dating. She was so quiet and reserved I really didn't know what to make of her. That quiet loving-kindness is a characteristic I would come to cherish as I got to know her. Pauline had a unique way of accepting and loving people just as they are. It was very easy to simply be yourself around Pauline and know that you were loved. I have always said I got a great package deal when I married Vicki.
Pauline moved here from Camden in March 2003, less than a month after Nate was born. While Jenna has early memories of her house in Camden, Pauline has been the grandma next door for the last seven years. I rarely walked over there without checking the kitchen cabinet for cookies. Our lives are forever changed because she will no longer be across the field ready to keep the kids or mend our clothes. Pauline made all the curtains in our house. She also reupholstered a chair in our bedroom, and she made many of the pillow covers that adorn on our beds and chairs. She has done so much for us I will always feel indebted to her, but every time I did a chore for her she'd say, "Thank ye 'til you're better paid."
Grandma's was a place our kids went to be spoiled. They could count on her to let them take over the TV, and eat anything and as much as they wanted. Within the last year I went over to Pauline's house one evening when Jenna was spending the night there, and when I walked in the two of them were sharing the recliner watching TV. I know she loved watching them walk across the field to her house.
Pauline made pajamas for all our kids, but the best was the floral pajamas she made for Jenna with a matching moo moo for herself. She also made pajamas for Ben that had little bitty hearts all over them (they looked like dots to her). He never minded wearing them to bed. I always thought of Pauline as a big mother bear who loved us all.
I always laughed at Pauline when she traveled with us. She worked as a door greeter at the Camden Wal-Mart until she moved here. We never passed a Wal-Mart, no matter where we went, that she didn't say something about going in to see it.
Pauline was always pleasant. I never heard her speak sharply (though the boys could test that) or say a cross word. She always spoke kindly of everyone she knew. When Aunt Mar was told of Pauline's this morning she said, "This is like losing a good sister." She leaves a big hole in our lives.
The funeral arrangements are as follows: We will have a memorial service at our church, Mt. Carmel, Sunday afternoon at 4:00 with visitation there at the church beginning at 2:00. Monday we will go to Sandy Point General Baptist Church (Pauline's church back home) and have a memorial service there at 2:00 with visitation beginning there at 12:00. Pauline will be buried next to her husband, Jessie, and infant daughter, Martha, at the Crossroads Missionary Baptist Cemetery. Bro. Bill will be officiating both services.
The weathermen have predicted that we will get 3-5 inches of snow, maybe more. We already have over two inches on the ground. Of all the weekends for them to get it right...
Joe
Pauline's obituary--
Pauline Phifer Jones, age 77, of Springfield, passed away Thursday, January 28, 2010 at Alive Hospice-Skyline, Madison Campus. Visitation with the family will be held at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church on Sunday, January 31, 2010 from 2-4pm with a service at 4pm. On Monday, February 1, 2010 visitation will be held at the Sandy Point General Baptist Church in Camden, TN from Noon until the time of Service at 2pm. Dr. Bill Owen will be officiating both services. Burial will follow in the Crossroads Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery in Camden with family and friends serving as pallbearers.
Mrs. Jones was born in Camden, Tennessee to the late Audie and Zora Townsend Phifer on September 30, 1932. She was a homemaker and member of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church. In addition to her parents she is preceded in death by her husband, William Jessie Jones; daughter, Martha Ann Jones; and brother, Joe Phifer. Mrs. Jones is survived by her son, William Tommy (Darice) Jones of Athens, GA; daughter, Vicki Lea (Joe) Swann of Springfield; grandchildren, Cameron Paul Jones, Zachary Andrew Jones, Jenna Lea Swann, Benton Caner Swann, Nathan Thomas Swann and Emily Katherine Jones. Mrs. Jones is also survived by many loving friends.
The family requests memorial contributions be made to the Mt. Carmel Baptist Church Building Fund or to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, both may be sent in c/o Austin & Bell.
Austin & Bell Funeral Home is in charge of these arrangements.
