Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort as we mourn our beloved Vivian. In humility and gratitude, we give him all the glory for Vivian’s life on earth and His mercy upon us.
To me Vivian was a true sister, a great friend:, loving, commited, dependable, uplifting and reliable. She is deeply missed and will be adored and cherished forever in our hearts.
I feel immensely blessed to have had the unmerited opportunity to know , grow and enjoy life with Vivian, be blessed by her and above all be showered by her love. It is a fact that Vivian was mightily blessed with favour and grace from the Lord. She was multi talented in all facets of life and therefore any attempt to summarise her character will fall nothing short of the full beautiful picture that God created in His daughter.
In addition to being absolutely stunning, Vivian was intelligent in the truest sense. She excelled academically, professionally and in creativity as evidenced by her various achievements , accomplishments and accolades. At her young age , she was already considered and recognised as an expert in her field. She was consistently excellent at her job, commercially astute, a very hard worker with an admirable work ethic and impressive career growth trajectory.
On the people side, my sister friend exemplified emotional intelligence – she knew exactly what to say and when. Vivian loved fully and was committed to those of us she loved. Always bringing joy and laughter with her and reminding us on every occasion that she loved us. She valued forgiveness and peace and dealt with life’s trials and tribulations in humility, faith and wisdom. She was a brilliant mother , a wonderful home maker, super organised (as in literally super!), resourceful, a great commmunicator and listener. If that’s not enough, God also blessed her with a beautiful singing voice and culinary skills we all enjoyed. Vivian was always responsible but so much fun and amazing company. We could easily dance and rejoice all night as she was fantastic at celebrating with others and comforting others when it was needed. She was full of life, love, gratitude and contentment. Our girl was simply the best and an inspiration and encouragement to me personally.
Saying goodbye to Vivian is painful and difficult. However I’m grateful to God that in addition to blessing my friend with all the above incredible blessings, in His loving kindness and mercy, He was gracious to give Vivian the most valuable and greatest gift of all ~ the opportunity to know about His steadfast love for her demonstrated in the salvation offered in Jesus Christ.
Therefore as born again believers of Christ, we take comfort in the hope affirmed in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”
It is in this hope we take time to reminisce in joy and thankfulness the great memories we shared with Vivian but more importantly have a forward looking mindset as death is not the end of our story! As long as Vivian is with the Lord, she is in the best place, best hands, she is finally Home. And in God’s mercy, if we truly put our faith and trust in Jesus and his Word, we have the assured opportunity to see her again and spend eternity with her.
Being followers of Christ offers and comforts us with
1) the eternal hope we all desperately long for as shared in Phillipians 3:20: “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
and
2) The fairytale ending our hearts yearn for and the perfect relationship with God we were created and designed for as revealed in Revelations 21:1-4 : Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away”. God assures born again believers that “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no heart of man can imagine the things that God has prepared for those who love him” ~ 1 Cor 2:9.
If Vivian could talk to us again after meeting the Lord, I believe her counsel to us would be like the rich man’s admonishment to his family, in Luke 16:27-31. Therefore, by God’s Grace, May Vivians short but purposeful life
1. Remind us that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die” ~ Ecclesiates 3:1. A reminder to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
2. Aspire us to work hard and be fruitful. As colossians 3:23-24 commands, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving”
3. Encourages us to trust and obey God in his sovereignity with all our hearts, and not lean on our own understanding ~ Proverbs 3:5-6. We will never fully fathom why God has taken Vivian now. However God is faithful and good in all circumstances beyond our capability to comprehend. He alone is God! Our rejection and rebellion to love and obey Him our creator, deserves judgment and wrath, but instead as long as we are alive and make a decision to truly follow him, He offers us through Christ, mercy, love, forgiveness, grace, salvation, a helper – the Holy Spirit and guidance on how to live a truly fruitful, joyful and content life despite the circumstances,pain, challenges and tribulations he allows to come our way. He promises to stay close to the broken hearted, never forsake us, be our refuge, to grow believers into Christ likeness and work all things for the good of those that love him (Romans 8:28). Therefore as hard as it is, may our hearts know that “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” – Lamentations 3:22-23
4. Inspires us to love and recheck/ refocus our priorities as Jesus told Martha in Luke 10:41-42, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is necessary and important – to listen and obey Jesus teachings , which is what Mary has chosen and it cannot be taken from her”. May God help us to ambitiously pursue Loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. And to serve Him daily through loving our neighbor as ourself for there is no greater commandment than these.” ~ Mark 12:30-31
and last but above all, whether we think we are Christians or not, Vivian’s short yet impactful life
5. Implores us to be smart and wise investors. To have the right perspective of this life and clearly recognise the urgency in investing first in the only accessible treasure that provides the best unending returns, eternal security, treasure that not even death can rob from us – Jesus and the salvation he offers. Jesus lovingly warns us in Mark 1:15, “The time is now! The kingdom of God is near! Repent, and believe the gospel!” The time is now to make the most of God’s offer of mercy and forgiveness. If we think we are Christians, let us not make assumptions and seek clarity given in the Bible on genuine faith and true discipleship. Let us check ourselves and pay heed to Jesus words in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” As Paul encourages the church in Phillippi and us, we are “to continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us to will and to do good works in order to fulfill his good purpose.” As Hebrews puts it bluntly, Faith without works is dead because if we have genuine saving faith it will inevitably produce fruit as God is at work in us as described in Matthew 13:23. However if this is not us or when we fail, we can start again, “If we repent, submit to Christ and confess our sins , he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” – 1john 1:8-9. Therefore as we stil breath, let us draw nearer and submit to Lord Jesus through his Word, the gospel, which is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). He invites us with open arms like the prodigal father to his lost son. May God also help us all to not settle for just the things, blessings He grants us in this life , may the grace, goodness, mercy and love He shows us through providing us with these undeserving good things, gifts, blessings encourage and awaken our hearts to draw closer to Him , to love Him truly and enjoy an enriching, obedient and service filled relationship that glorifies Him through our lives. Lastly, May God help us set our minds on things above and not on earthly things ~ Colossians 3:2. May we not be deceived by the evil one or “the worries of this world, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things that choke the Word of God that we do hear and make it unfruitful in our lives” ~ Mark 4:19
Our dearest has fought the good fight, has kept the faith, has completed her race and now she has passed on the baton to us. As Jesus said, “Whoever has ears, let them hear” (Matthew 11:15).
So, together we pray, “To Him who is able to keep us from stumbling and to present us before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy. To the only God our Savior , be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen” ~ Jude 24:25.
Songs – Even when it hurts, I’ll praise you (Hillsong). The Lord’s my shepherd ( Stuart Townend). Remembrance(Hillsong).