www.jordanstinziano.com
I just have to write one more post about this beautiful lady that I am honored to be able to call my friend. I didn't know Maggie very long, we did not hang out together much on a personal level, but Jordan was our pastor, so I heard a lot about their family and felt like I knew them pretty well. I kept their kids in the church nursery and loved on them every week.
Maggie was the type of person that you did not have to know very well for her to make you feel special. She was the one in the room who always made everyone feel like her best friend. Her smile was so sweet and bright and went all the way to her eyes.
Last night was her memorial service. The catch phrase, coined by Orlando, I think, was "That's so Maggie." Everyone who spoke of her had stories to tell that you just nodded as you recognized Maggie's special ways.
I have never attended a memorial service quite like this one, but I can tell you that I would like for mine to be just like it. Several people spoke of Maggie and shared stories that made the entire room laugh and cry at the same time, but that was not even the best part.
The best part was that Jordan (her husband and one of our pastors) got up and brought a message of salvation and redemption. A message of hope and of ruthless trust in a God that we all would like to think we know, but really we can't possibly begin to wrap our minds around. A God who has walked with them through suffering that we all pray we will never have to know firsthand. A God who has never abandoned or forsaken them.
I wish I could share with you an entire transcript of the service, because it was truly beautiful. I can't do that, but I do want to relay a couple of things that Jordan said. He said that the day before Maggie died he asked her a question. She couldn't talk anymore and she couldn't open her eyes. They were communicating at this point with hand squeezes. Jordan asked, "Mag, do you feel like God has failed you?" He said her reaction was immediate, she spoke (with her mouth) the word "No!" Emphatically.....at a time we she was physically incapable of speaking! Miracles like this to reassure Jordan and the others left behind that God was still there, still working, and giving Maggie unbelievable peace in the midst of what we would call a tragedy.
Jordan also said that when she first found out that the cancer had spread to her brain, they were sitting in a restaurant after leaving a doctor's appointment. The news was grim, the cancer was advanced and spreading. She said to her husband, "Everyone looks at me like they are waiting for me to fall apart." He kind of nodded, agreeing that even he was waiting on that. She went on. "All my life I have believed that the joy of the Lord is my strength. Now, even in the face of this, it either is or it isn't."
Praise the Lord, it was.
She faced this horrible disease, this disease that, as her husband loves to say "sucks," with such dignity and grace that everyone around her was impacted. There were multiple stories shared last night about nurses, hospice workers, doctors who left Maggie's presence knowing that she was different. She was sweet and kind and grateful to the last. She turned to the doctor who told her at the very end, "there's nothing more I can do for you" and thanked him for all he had done. Amazing.
After Jordan brought a message imploring anyone in the room who had not yet accepted the Lord Maggie loved so much to please not delay, there was worship in that place like nothing I have ever experienced. A few of Maggie's closest friends, musicians in our church, played, the entire room stood (and it was packed) and we sang "The Stand" and "How Great is Our God." Arms were high all over the sanctuary and the Spirit of God fell on that place with a presence that you could almost taste. The verse that comes to mind is from Psalm 34:8 "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Maggie took refuge in our big, big God and until the very end of her earthly life, she praised him, she loved her husband and her children well and I have no doubt whatsoever that she was ushered into His presence with the words I long to hear some day, "Well done."
Maggie was the type of person that you did not have to know very well for her to make you feel special. She was the one in the room who always made everyone feel like her best friend. Her smile was so sweet and bright and went all the way to her eyes.
Last night was her memorial service. The catch phrase, coined by Orlando, I think, was "That's so Maggie." Everyone who spoke of her had stories to tell that you just nodded as you recognized Maggie's special ways.
I have never attended a memorial service quite like this one, but I can tell you that I would like for mine to be just like it. Several people spoke of Maggie and shared stories that made the entire room laugh and cry at the same time, but that was not even the best part.
The best part was that Jordan (her husband and one of our pastors) got up and brought a message of salvation and redemption. A message of hope and of ruthless trust in a God that we all would like to think we know, but really we can't possibly begin to wrap our minds around. A God who has walked with them through suffering that we all pray we will never have to know firsthand. A God who has never abandoned or forsaken them.
I wish I could share with you an entire transcript of the service, because it was truly beautiful. I can't do that, but I do want to relay a couple of things that Jordan said. He said that the day before Maggie died he asked her a question. She couldn't talk anymore and she couldn't open her eyes. They were communicating at this point with hand squeezes. Jordan asked, "Mag, do you feel like God has failed you?" He said her reaction was immediate, she spoke (with her mouth) the word "No!" Emphatically.....at a time we she was physically incapable of speaking! Miracles like this to reassure Jordan and the others left behind that God was still there, still working, and giving Maggie unbelievable peace in the midst of what we would call a tragedy.
Jordan also said that when she first found out that the cancer had spread to her brain, they were sitting in a restaurant after leaving a doctor's appointment. The news was grim, the cancer was advanced and spreading. She said to her husband, "Everyone looks at me like they are waiting for me to fall apart." He kind of nodded, agreeing that even he was waiting on that. She went on. "All my life I have believed that the joy of the Lord is my strength. Now, even in the face of this, it either is or it isn't."
Praise the Lord, it was.
She faced this horrible disease, this disease that, as her husband loves to say "sucks," with such dignity and grace that everyone around her was impacted. There were multiple stories shared last night about nurses, hospice workers, doctors who left Maggie's presence knowing that she was different. She was sweet and kind and grateful to the last. She turned to the doctor who told her at the very end, "there's nothing more I can do for you" and thanked him for all he had done. Amazing.
After Jordan brought a message imploring anyone in the room who had not yet accepted the Lord Maggie loved so much to please not delay, there was worship in that place like nothing I have ever experienced. A few of Maggie's closest friends, musicians in our church, played, the entire room stood (and it was packed) and we sang "The Stand" and "How Great is Our God." Arms were high all over the sanctuary and the Spirit of God fell on that place with a presence that you could almost taste. The verse that comes to mind is from Psalm 34:8 "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Maggie took refuge in our big, big God and until the very end of her earthly life, she praised him, she loved her husband and her children well and I have no doubt whatsoever that she was ushered into His presence with the words I long to hear some day, "Well done."
As for me, I am a better person for having known her. Today, I am hugging my children a little tighter, I am loving my husband a little better, and most of all, I am seeking to know Jesus more and better make Him known to those He puts in my life. At the end of my earthly life, whenever that may be, I pray that it can be said of me that I sought Jesus first and that my life was characterized by love - to all those He put in my life.
So, once more I will say that Jordan and Maggie would want you to seek first a relationship with the One who has conquered death. Do that, and the joy of the Lord can be your strength as well, no matter what befalls you.
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