My mother

"It is with both joy and sadness that I inform you that our mother, Verna May (Hall) Linzey, has graduated to her heavenly reward. She was 97 years old, and held on to this life to the end. She left this life just before noon (Pacific Time) on Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, 2016. She had been in the Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego, Calif."

That was my announcement to the world when my mother passed away. Since mom loved the Lord Jesus Christ, I call her death her "Graduation." Some have called it her "Rapture" and I would agree with that too. This Reflection is a tribute to my mother.

Mother was a remarkable woman. Not because of what you may read on the internet, but because of who she was and what she REALLY did in life.

On the internet, you may read that Verna Linzey wrote a number of books, was a world-wide evangelist, a preacher of renown, famous singer, doctor of Theology, instrumental in the translation and publication of Bibles, and much more. But none of that is true.

Someone wanted mom to be famous; so that person rewrote the Linzey family history, staged a number of photo ops, inserted her into other events, gave her scripts to read, arranged for an unmerited honorary doctorate, took hundreds of pictures, and made mom to be someone she was not. Apparently many people -- including misguided Christians -- have lost sight of truth, honor, and integrity. Even though mother always insisted on telling the truth, her memory and cognizance had previously evaporated so she innocently went along with what she was told.

But my mother was a remarkable woman. Since dad was a U.S. Navy Chaplain and was stationed at various places throughout the country and around the world, mom was effectively a single parent much of the time. Therefore, she invested her life in raising five girls and five boys (who were at times rowdy) to the best of her ability while dad was not available. And mom and dad were both successful in what God called them to do.

Never having a ministry of her own, all mom's travel -- both in the country and around the world -- was to accompany and support dad in his ministry and to enjoy vacations with him.

And mother loved her children. When we were young, mom would put us to bed then go to the old upright piano and sing as we went to sleep. With her beautiful contralto voice, she sang songs about Jesus and heaven, and those songs rang through the corridors of our little minds as we drifted off to sleep. That is why even today I prefer soft, gentle, Godly music. It quiets my rattled brain and soothes my mind and spirit.

Mother never worked outside the home after children came along, for she wanted to be available for all of us. Mom understood that her ministry was primarily raising us to know and honor our heavenly Father.

She was frugal, and made sure we lived within dad's paycheck. We always had enough to eat and always had warm clothing in the winter. Although our half-mile walks to school were easy, mom drove us to school if it was raining. Mom even got up at 4 a.m. on Sundays if it was raining, and drove me as I delivered the Sunday morning newspapers.

Mom taught us to respect authority and to obey the law because all authority was given and ordained by God. We learned that disobeying the law and parents, was disobeying God.

Mother was from a musical family who owned a music store in Coffeeville, Kan. Mom played the piano, clarinet, and violin; therefore, she encouraged all of us to learn to play at least one instrument -- and the radio didn't count as one of them. Most of my siblings play the piano and one other instrument, while I excelled only on the clarinet.

In my estimation, mother's legacy is her love for the Lord and teaching us to love and trust Him, too. With so much confusion in the world, our stability is based on Proverbs 3:5-6; "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will direct your paths." Thank you, mother.

We love mom and dad, and we look forward to joining them again someday in heaven.

-- Gene Linzey is a speaker, author, mentor and president of the Siloam Springs Writers Guild. Send comments and questions to [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.