Please pray that what I'm about to relate becomes a non-issue:

Our church has had a yard sale scheduled for this Saturday for over four months. I went in to the church this morning and found that the fellowship hall had already be set up with tables and sale items for this Saturday. The hall is filled!!! Several items from the fellowship hall were moved into the sanctuary in inconvenient places.

The first thing I thought was what if Janet, an elderly lady who is one of the pillars of our church, dies and the family wants to have a church funeral followed by a meal in the fellowship hall on Saturday. Well, Janet has been in an out of the hospital lately and early this afternoon I got a call from the "prayer chain" that Janet was back in the hospital. If she dies and the family requests a church funeral and meal this Saturday, my position as an elder in the church will be that the yard sale must be cancelled and everything put back in order for the funeral. I know that there are those on the church council who will insist that the yard sale take priority. This will cause a huge rift in the church.

First of all, prayer for Janet's recovery--not just short term, but long term. Also pray that Satan doesn't get the opportunity to use the death of this, or any other saint, to cause turmoil in an already "thinning" congregation.

I understand that the ladies who organized the yard sale had to take advantage of the volunteer labor when it was available, but there is always the possiblity of death in our elderly congregation. I don't think the yard sale should have been set up with this distinct possibility looming.

I will most definitly pray for the heath of Janet but I have to disagree that you should live life or hold plans waiting for the possibility of a death. That could happen to ANY of us at ANY time. If God decides to call her home then the arraingments should be made to clear the hall for a funeral. BUT I feel that plans should push on till that happens.