二零一三年十二月八日是一個像平常一樣的主日，所不同的是在教會吃午餐的時候，我端了兩碗湯回座，看到元玲難得坐在我的左邊，我把一碗湯給她，另一碗給坐在我右邊的晶(Jeanne)。作為教會的師母，元玲在三堂不同語言敬拜的聚會都有參與事奉，聚會後她需要與一些姐妹碰面談話，相當忙碌。我們搬來Elk Grove已有五個多月，只有幾次機會在教會坐在一起吃午餐。那天中午她雖然坐在我的旁邊，卻沒有機會和我說話，她正在問候坐在對面的弟兄。談話告一段落，她側身問我好不好，我回答她我很好，她似乎很滿意我的回答，之後她就去忙別的事了。我對自己的回答，有一點不以為然 – 「我真的很好嗎？」
在午餐時，晶沒有機會與元玲說話；傍晚打電話問她一點小事，通常她一定會回話，但她這次沒有回話，我們也沒有在意，而且星期日晚上他們全家通常在外吃經濟的晚餐，有一段放鬆的時段，我們不想去打擾他們。第二天早上她要Esther打電話給我，送Esther上學時，才知道她在昨晚已經身體不適。
沒想到她這樣快就被主接回天家。我們去醫院的時候，還不知怎麼回事，她已經急救無效安睡主懷。瞬間，丈夫失去了愛妻和同心事奉的伙伴，孩子們失去了愛他們的母親，父母失去了愛女，妹妹失去了姐姐，教會失去了一位服侍他們的師母…。這真是晴天霹靂，心中的悲慟難以形容，只能以淚洗面。在萬念俱灰的心境裡，我們仍然要過日子，協助陳牧師擔負照顧家庭及孩子的責任。
十二月九日的QT(Quiet Time)經文是林後5:1-10，正是元玲被主接走的日子，5:1「我們原知道，我們這地上的帳棚若拆毀了，必得神所造，不是人手所造，在天上永存的房屋」。描述她在地上的帳棚拆了，必得神所造在天上永存的房屋，她已得到了永生的確據。這是神所選定的日子，不是人力可以挽回的。難怪她走的時候是如此的安詳，沒有痛苦，真的像睡覺一樣，隨時都可以醒過來，這對我們是極大的安慰。在人看來她走得很突然，但神早已為我們作了準備的工作。
為孩子們打下信仰的根基
當小孩小的時候，元玲每天早晨都把他們的聖經放在飯桌上，上學之前讓他們讀
經晨更，讓神的話語能進入孩子的心靈裡。後來他們採用「活潑的生命」作為他們早晨靈修(QT)的材料，全家五人人手一本，作為他們全家共同的靈糧。現在孩子們大了，每天自動研讀QT(Quiet Time)教材。幾年下來的QT，加上每週的聽道和主日學的學習，他們了解基督的救恩，打下聖經在他們心中的根基。當暴風雨來臨的時候，信仰的根基不會動搖，讓他們接受媽媽被主接去的事實，漸漸從痛苦中走出來。
神鼓動我們搬來加州就近彼此照顧
當二零一一年陳牧師及元玲初來CGBC事奉時，我們在那年冬天探望他們，他們帶我們看了Del Webb Glenbrooke 的55歲以上的退休房，希望我們搬來他們附近，好就近照顧我們，以盡孝心。但是我們在芝加哥西郊住了三十多年，小女兒一家住在附近，若是遠遷加州，太多勞累，不是我們上年紀的人所能勝任。加上當時房子不易出售，必須加以整修，費神費力，太多工作，所以沒有搬家的打算。但是神卻擾動我們要搬離，首先把我們小女兒一家調到東部，失去了不搬家的一個
主要理由，於是我們決定搬家。沒有想到房子的整修和出售，藉著家人和許多弟兄姐妹們的代禱和幫助，一切都出乎意外的順利，讓我們看到神的祝福，見證了元玲一直以來的信心。
我們終於搬來這裡，先在他們家住了三週之久，之後搬進新居。這期間元玲忙著幫我們辦理一切事務，為了幫助我們安頓，今年夏天她沒有去短宣。女婿利用星期一休息日負責我們後園規劃和建造，及安裝室內裝飾。他們所作的一切都顯明他們的孝心。元玲希望我們在這裡住得舒適習慣。我們加入教會團契，參與社區活動，結交了新朋友，她都為我們高興。
神借用車牌對我們的啟示
搬來加州後第一件事，就是元玲帶我們去DMV考駕照和換車牌， 我們很順利通過筆試拿到加州的駕照。當我拿到車牌，我很驚喜看到車牌號碼是「7AHU247」，我一眼就注意我的姓(HU)在其中，我就與她討論這個車牌對我有點啟發，好像其中對我個人有屬靈的意義。
若是人有生之年分四個階段，我已進入人生的第四個階段， 成為基督徒多年的盼望是永生，在千禧年和新天新地能敬拜這位昔在今在永在的神。聖經裡的「7」代表完全、圓滿，前後兩個「7」代表完全的國度，那就是神親自掌權的千禧年國度和新天新地的時期才有完美的國度。「A」是希臘文的阿拉法(Alpha)。啟 1:8「主神說：我是阿拉法，我是俄梅戛，（阿拉法，俄梅戛：是希利尼字母首末二字），是昔在、今在、以後永在的全能者」。在啟示錄提到在千禧年，有二十四(24)位長老圍繞在寶座周圍敬拜永活的神。在永世裡我們(胡家)能與眾聖徒一起敬拜神。元玲也覺得這是奇妙的啟示。
在永世裡能夠有資格敬拜這位永活的神，必須認同耶穌基督是我們個人的救主和生命的主，祂救贖我們，赦免我們的罪，讓祂復活的生命住在我們心裡，我們一生跟隨祂。「247」代表一天廿四小時，一星期七天。這個車牌給我另一個啟發，就是在今世，我要每天跟隨祂。「外體雖然毀壞，內心卻一天新似一天」(林後4:16)。今世屬靈的生命與永世與神同在的永生有不可分割的關係。
元玲關心我們退休的生活，鼓勵我們保持與主的關係。二零一二年她寄給我們Billy Graham所著的一本書「Nearing Home」，鼓勵我們在退休後這段黃金時代，過「退修」的生活，學習這位大佈道家在晚年繼續走成聖的道路，塑造屬靈的品格。她在不知不覺中負起對我們作門徒的使命，她在每天的QT裡與主建立非常親密的關係，她不停地塑造她的屬靈品格，以她的生命去影響別人的生命。有一年我們去東部看望他們，我看到她的臉龐顯得非常的聖潔，平安與喜悅湧出在她的臉面上，甚至於臉上發亮，顯示她內心的純潔和和諧，那臉龐到如今我仍然有印象。我相信她向姐妹們作門徒訓練，不僅是言教而已，主要是身教，以她自己的生命去影響他人的生命。
一生事奉的心志
元玲就讀於伊利諾大學(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)化學系，據她的朋友所言，她把聖經經句貼在宿舍各處，成為她無聲傳福音的方式。她以優異的成績畢業，但沒有積極地找工作，卻有去短宣的負擔，因為晶覺得找工作比較重要，以致於她沒有成行，成為她的遺憾。後來她進Merck製藥公司工作，搬到New Jersey，認識Tim，那時他正在讀神學。她
的心志是要事奉神，深信Tim是一位忠心的傳道人，願意與他成為終身的伴侶，神對她的帶領是沒有錯的，他們兩人同心事奉神二十四年之久。
在New Jersey二年半後，神呼召Tim去紐約傳道，她毫不猶豫地辭掉這份理想的工作，跟隨Tim 靠著微薄的收入過生活，她也甘之如飴。後來晶勸她找工作，減少經濟上的壓力，她很快進入Pepsi 公司。工作十年後，陳牧師帶領全家去Maryland牧會，元玲辭去工作，此後決定不再上班，全時間協助牧師，參與教會各方面的服侍。
二零一一年五月，他們全家搬來北加州在CGBC事奉。她參與華語、粤語和英語三個堂會的事奉，協助陳牧師為三個堂會的合一而努力，不住地為教會和各肢體禱告。可惜只有二年半時間就被主接回天家，息了她在世上的勞苦。她是一位盡職的師母，從小看她長大為她受洗的林牧師，稱讚她為最好的師母。一位在東部教會姐妹懷念她是一位順服牧師又不過問教會事務的好師母，忠心服侍主，愛神愛人的好姐妹。
父母對她的思念
元玲是一個非常孝順的女兒，她美好的靈性，是我們靈裡的支柱和榜樣。她說前二十年我們與她妹妹靠近，以後的日子，她要孝敬我們。她幫我們在此訂購房屋，搬來後幫忙我們安頓下來，也讓我們幫助她家庭，分擔她的一點家務，好讓她多一點時間作她的事工。我們每週在教會見一次面，偶而一起吃晚餐，有時在星期二中午來我們家坐幾分鐘，吃一點簡便的中飯，算是我們每週的盼望，現在連這麼樣的盼望也沒有了。
十二月十五日是我們夫婦結婚五十週年紀念日，那天卻是瞻仰她遺容的日子。之前，她一直在計劃，等妹妹全家在聖誕期間來時如何慶祝，她的孝心沒能夠實現。十二月三十日我們全家在她墓地四週聚集，她的身體躺在地下，她的靈魂活在天上，每個人都泣不成聲，幾束鮮花略表我們的思念。寫到這裡，我們的心早已飛往她那裡，盼望我們與她相見日子的來臨。我們的好女兒元玲，我們會永遠思念妳。
In loving memory of my daughter, Yuan-Ling (Linda Shimu)
Frank Hu
Translated by Lawrence Yen
December 8th, 2013, was a Sunday like every other Sundays at CGBC, the only difference was during the church lunch, I carried in my hands two bowls of soup, and when I returned to my seat, I saw Yuan-Ling sitting to my left, a rare occurrence during these busy time. I put down a bowl of soup for her, and the other bowl to Jeanne, my wife, sitting on my right side. As the wife of the senior pastor ( Linda Shimu, as she was addressed), Yuan-Ling was actively involved in the ministry and worship of all three different congregations, and after these services, she was often busily engaged in discussing future plans with fellow sister coworkers. My wife and I had just moved to Elk Grove for a little over five months, and we rarely get to sit and share a meal with Yuan-Ling. I did not get a chance to speak to her that day while she sat next to me; she was greeting a brother across the table. When the conversation came to an end, she turned and glanced at me, and asked me how was I doing? “I’m fine “, I answered her. She seemed satisfied with my answer, and raced off to tend to other matters of importance. While I was left unhappy with my answer – am I really “fine”?
Jeanne did not have a chance to speak to Yuan-Ling during lunch, and later she called her about a trivial matter in the evening. But the call was not returned as was customary, but on Sunday evenings their family usually eat out for a light dinner as a time to relax, so we figured we did not want to disturb them. The next morning she asked Esther to call me to take her to school, and we learned then that she had not been feeling well the night before.
Who would have expected that she would be brought to heaven so soon? We arrived at the hospital clueless as to what had happened, only to learn that despite all attempts at resuscitation, she was laid to rest in the Lord’s arms. In an instant, a husband lost his beloved wife and faithful ministry partner, the children lost their loving mother, the parents lost their daughter, the younger sister lost her older sibling, and the church lost their pastor’s wife who had served them faithfully… The turn of events struck as a lightning bolt, and hearts were saddened with indescribable grief, and stunned… we could only wash our face with tears. In our despair, we still had to carry on, to help lighten some of the burdens and responsibilities of Pastor Tim in caring for his children.
December 9th was the day that Yuan-Ling was received by the Lord, and the Quiet Time (QT) scripture was from 2 Corinthians 5:1-10. In the first verse, “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands”. In essence, it described the demolition of her tent on the ground, and received the eternal building in heaven from God, the assurance of eternal life. This day was by God’s design, and could not be undone by man. It was then no wonder she left in such peace, without pain, as if sound asleep, and ready to wake up at any time. This image was a great comfort to us. From the human perspective, she seemed to have left very suddenly, but God had already made provisions for us to carry out the work that followed.
Laying the Foundation of Faith for Her Children
When the children were young, Yuan-Ling would place their Bible on the dining table every morning; so that their hearts were filled by the Word of God before they ran off to school. Later, the family used “Living Life” as their morning devotional material (QT), the daily spiritual food for this family of five, with a journal in each one’s hand. Now the children have grown older, and continue their daily devotion with their QT material. With the foundation of several years of QT teachings, plus the weekly sermon and Sunday school lessons, they fully understand Christ’s salvation in their hearts. When this recent storm arrived, their faith was unshaken, their pain was eased and their sorrow was comforted.
God Encouraged Us to Move to California to Take Care of Each Other
In 2011, when Pastor Chan and Yuan-Ling began their ministry at CGBC, we visited them in the winter of that year. They took us to visit the Del Webb Glenbrooke’s retirement home, in the hope that we would decide to move here to be close to them, and to take care of us as we advance in age. But we had lived in the western suburbs of Chicago for thirty plus years, with our younger daughter lived close by. Moving to California was just too tiresome for two old folks. In addition, the house needed to be renovated prior to placement on the market, adding to the trouble and effort, such that it dampened all intention of moving. But God stirred our spirit to move, by relocating our younger daughter to the east coast, and with that impediment out of the equation, we decided to move to California. With the prayers of many brothers and sisters from our congregation, the renovating and selling of the house went surprisingly smooth, and we saw God’s hand at work, a testament to the source of Yuan-Ling’s faith.
We finally made it to Sacramento, staying the initial three weeks at Pastor Tim’s home before moving to our new abode. During this transition, Yuan-Ling was kept busy to help us deal with matters in settling down, and deferred from going to her annual summer mission trip. Our son-in-law used his weekly Monday down time to help us plan and implement the backyard landscaping, as well as the installation of interior fixtures. These were all indicative of their respectful attribute toward parents. Yuan-Ling wanted us to be happy and that we would lead a comfortable life here. We joined up with the church fellowship, participated in community activities, and made a few new friends.
God’s Revelation to Me Through the Number on the License Plate
One of the first things we did with Yuan-Ling upon arriving in California was to visit the DMV for the driving test and change the license plate for our vehicle.
We successfully passed the written test for the driver’s license in California. When I received the license plate, I was pleasantly surprised to see the license plate number as “7AHU247”, and immediately noticed my last name (Hu) amongst its letters. I discussed with her that this license plate seem to hold some personal inspiration to me, which were of spiritual significance. If people’s lives are categorized into four stages, I have surely entered the fourth and last stage, while a Christian’s hope is eternal life, to rejoice and worship in the new millennium in heaven with our God of the past, present and all eternity. In the Bible, the number “7” represented fullness, to be complete, and being the first and last digit on my plate represented the perfect kingdom under God’s divine authority in the new millennium. “A” is the Greek letter, α (Alpha). Rev. 1:8 “The Lord God said: I am the Alpha and the Omega (Alpha and Omega: the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet), who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty”. Revelation mentioned in the new millennium, there are twenty-four (24) elders around the throne and worshiped the living God. In eternity we (Hu family) can worship God along with all the saints. Yuan-Ling also thought this was a wonderful interpretation.
To be eligible to worship the living God in eternity, we must recognize Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord of all creation. He redeemed us, and forgave us our sins, so that we may carry His resurrected life in our hearts, as we follow Him in this life on earth. “247” represent the number of hours in a day, and seven days in a week. These license numbers gave me another inspiration, that is, in this world I am to follow Him every hour, and every day. “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day”. (2 Corinthians 4:16) There is an inseparable connection between the spiritual life we lead on earth today and the eternal life we share with God tomorrow.
Yuan-Ling was concerned that we maintain a steady relationship with the Lord in our retirement. In 2012, she sent us a book written by Billy Graham, titled “Nearing Home”, encouraging us in our golden time of retirement to also follow the great evangelist’s example, and continue on the sanctified path to continue to shape and build our spiritual character. She unknowingly took on the mission of building disciples of us, by establishing a very close relationship with the Lord every day through QT, as she continued to shape her spiritual character, influencing the lives of those she touched. One year we went to the east coast to visit them, and I saw peace, joy, and holiness radiating from her face. There was even a glow to it, reflecting her inner purity and harmony, which even today I still remember vividly. I believe when she taught discipleship to church sisters, it was not merely with words, but by example, influencing the lives of others with that of her own.
Aspiration Toward a Lifetime of Ministry
Yuan-Ling studied chemistry at the University of Illinois (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ), and according to her friends, she posted Bible verses throughout the dormitory, and it became her quiet way of spreading the gospel. She graduated with honors, but did not actively look for work, but was instead stirred to go on a mission trip. But Jeanne felt it was more important to find a job, so that regrettably she did not make the trip. Her first job was with Merck pharmaceutical company, she moved to New Jersey and met Tim, who was studying theology at the time. Her mind was set to serve the Lord, and convinced that Tim would be a faithful servant of God, she became his lifelong companion. God’s guidance in her life could not be wrong, for they both served Him in unity, with unwavering faith for the past twenty-four years.
After two-and-a-half years in New Jersey, God called on Tim to serve in New York, and Yuan-Ling had no hesitation to resign from what many would regard as the ideal job, to follow Tim, and she was happy, despite the meager income. Later, Jeanne encouraged her to find a job to lighten the financial burden, and she was quickly recruited by the Pepsi Company. Ten years later, Pastor Tim led the family to Maryland to minister a church. Yuan-Ling left her job, and this time decided to assist the pastor full-time, dedicating herself to many aspects of the church ministry.
On May 2011, their whole family moved to Northern California, to be a part of the CGBC ministry. She participated in the Mandarin, Cantonese and English congregational ministries, and assisted Pastor Chan in his efforts to bring unity to the whole church, praying constantly for the church and all its constituents. Unfortunately, the heavenly father relieved her of further toil after only two-and-a-half years here. She was a dutiful wife, and Pastor Lin, who saw her grow up and baptized her, praised her as the perfect example of a Pastor’s wife. A sister from the church back on the east coast will miss her as a submissive wife, someone who did not interfere with church affairs, but faithful in serving the Lord, and a devoted sister who loved God and all His children.
The Longing of Her Parents
Yuan-Ling was a very loving daughter; her spiritual purity was our strength and example. She said that we had lived closer to her sister for the past twenty years, but from now on, she wanted to honor us. She helped us in the purchase of our current house, and later helped us settle down. She also allowed us to share in helping her taking care of her family, so she could have more time to serve the ministry. We would meet once a week at church, and occasionally eat dinner together, sometimes at noon on Tuesdays when she would come to our house for a few minutes to chat, and we’d eat a simple lunch together. These simple moments together were times we would look forward to every week, and now such hope were extinguished.
December 15th was the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Jeanne and me, but that was also the day to view her face for the last time. Previously, she had been planning the family Christmas celebration when her sister’s family was scheduled to visit, but her wish could not be realized.
On December 30th, our family gathered around her burial plot, with her body lying on the ground and her soul now in heaven, with only dozens of roses to express our sorrow, I could not help but break down in tears. As I write, our longing hearts had already flown over to her resting place, and we pray for the day when we may meet again. My darling daughter Yuan-Ling, we will always miss you.
