Another Sweet Good-Bye

Yesterday, we said another difficult but sweet good-bye. We visited our dear friend, Janet Gilliam who just found out a few weeks ago that she has pancreatic cancer and has been given only a few months to live here on this earth. Janet is very special to our family and has had an influence in each of our girls lives by teaching each of them or them helping in her classroom. They have all fondly called her "Aunt Janet" over their growing up years here in Thailand. Since we will be travelling the next few months, it was important to go by and see her before we left town.

Janet is absolutely amazing to us the way she is handing her upcoming death. She talks about it so freely and is looking forward to being with Jesus sooner than any of the rest of us. She has such a sweet relationship with Him, that she feels each day as she walks closer with him that she is just closer to seeing him face to face. Her perspective is just how I would want mine to be. I told her yesterday that God used her to teach my girls how to live and now he is using her to teach me and many others how to die. After our visit with her, she had asked for a group of the students and families that she had taught to come by to sing for her and have a time of praise and worship. It was such a sweet time for us to join them. In between songs Janet would express her love for Jesus based on the words she heard in each song.

Another thing that I was blessed to watch was her closest friends and the ladies from her mission around her and how they are caring for her in her last days. Both of her parents have died and she has no siblings- so they are her family. Each of the ladies is so attentive to her needs and they all love on her like any dying person would want in their life. Janet has chosen to die and be buried here in this country that has been her home in her service for Jesus.

It's hard for me to really express what an amazing outlook "Aunt Janet" has on dying, death, and waiting for Jesus to just pick her up and carry her into heaven. I wish you all could have the privilege to visit her as we did yesterday. You can follow her final journey on a blog her friends have made for her. It is mysiamsong. The thing that I will be praying for her is pain management. Her attitude is so incredible, but the pain will be increasing- so she and her caregivers need wisdom to help her with the meds. We thank God for Janet, her life, and all she is teaching us during this time in her life.