July 16, 2015

Patti Lauren Johnson 

January 4, 1951-July 16, 2015

Nothing bonds the household of faith together quite like serving the Lord side by side----and in this case, on foreign soil.

A 1997 mission trip to Hungary is how I first met Patti. My first trip, her third. She was the veteran, I was the newbie. I was frantic, she was calm. I only knew a few on the team, she even knew some of the Hungarians. None of that mattered, as I discovered, because....we, as members of the household of faith, were all in it together---to share, along with English lessons, the good news of the One who was the "cornerstone of our faith." Patti did it well. I followed.
Oh, what a team we were at the Cornerstone House in Kővágóörs Hungary!

1st row l-r--Cindy E. Suzanne C. Cynthia G. Patti J. (I stood behind Patti)
2nd row l-r Jane M. Bill B. Garland T. Mike H. and Steve C, our leader

Most recently, I have spent the last month with Patti as she walked the final days of her cancer journey. I was not the only one from the "household of God," who came to minister to her and that was encouraging to both of us.
When I was asked to speak at her upcoming funeral, I wondered what I would say about the life of this quiet, gentle, beloved daughter of the Lord. And then I knew----share what she taught me about both living and dying as one who remains faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22, ESV)

For Christ was the "cornerstone" of her faith.......from the day I met her, until the day He took her home---July 16, 2015.