In Memory of Mary Lamb

I'm kind of homesick for a country
to which I've never been before.
No sad goodbyes will there be spoken,
for time won't matter anymore.

Beulah Land I'm longing for you,
and someday on thee I'll stand.
There my home shall be eternal.
In Beulah Land, Sweet Beulah Land

I'm looking now across that river,
to where my faith's gonna' end in sight.
There's just a few more days to labor,
then I will take my heavenly flight.

Beulah Land I'm longing for you,
and someday on thee I'll stand.
There my home shall be eternal.
In Beulah Land, Sweet Beulah land

The song that plays in the background on this page, "Sweet Beulah Land", is a very special piece of music. It is a song that two of Mary's sisters, Katie and Ann, sang at our church one Sunday, a few years ago. They had practiced a few times the day before. Although Mary didn't like to sing much, she mumbled her way through the words, learning the lyrics to the song as Katie and Ann practiced. On Sunday morning, when it was time to go up to the choir loft to sing, Katie and Ann pulled Mary along behind them, and "got even" for her insistence that they come to Mullica Hill and sing for our congregation. They had Mary sing along -- in a memorable rendition of this song.

Gordon, Katie's husband, videotaped the three of them singing, and gave Mary a copy of the tape. She would watch the tape over and over. Many times I would watch the tape with her; she cherished seeing her family members together. Each time I heard the music and the sweet voices singing, it would bring streams of tears to my eyes. I couldn't listen all the way through; I would usually leave the room before the song was completed. Little did I know, that one day I'd select that same piece of music for her memorial service at the church she loved so well.

Since Mary's passing, this music remains in my head, sometimes waking me at night. It permeates my thoughts, bringing sweet sounds to me that overcome all other sounds around me. It still brings a flood of tears when I hear it. But my Mary is now in her "Sweet Beulah Land" where she belongs.

A beautiful vocal version of this song may be downloaded in MP3 format by clicking HERE.

The MP3 file is ~ 4.5 MB and takes a while to download, but the result is worth the wait!

Mary, you will always be in the hearts and souls of all of those people whose lives you touched.
There were so many.  You left behind fond memories and warm remembrances, thoughts of 
a very special lady who would leave this world to become Heaven's newest angel.

Please watch over me.  Keep me safe.  And please be at the gates to greet me
when I finally come to be with you for the rest of all eternity.

A true friend sent me a few words of condolence. The poem she enclosed with her message to me had a special meaning, and I decided to add them to this memorial page, a tribute to the woman who meant the world to me.

Thanks so much, for sending this along...

Don't grieve for me, for now I'm Free.
I'm following the path God laid for me.
I took his hand when I heard Him call.
I turned my back and left it all.

I could not stay another day
to laugh, to love, to work or play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way.
I found that place at the close of day.

If my parting has left a void,
then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss.
Ah yes, these things I, too, will miss.

Be not burdened with times of sorrow.
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life's been full, I savored much.
Good friends, good times, a loved one's touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all too brief;
Don't lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up your heart, and share with me.
God wanted me now. He set me free.

By Linda Jo Jackson.
Ottawa, Canada