I privately tutor my daughters at home; this is also known as home-schooling. One morning several years ago, I was taking my daughter, MG, to an orthodontic appointment. We arrived pretty early, so to kill some time, I suggested we drive through the nearby cemetery. This is where a couple of her grandparents are buried.

We found and visited the graves, and still we had time to spare. I remember I was very tired that morning, so I put forth the idea that we drive around the cemetery a bit. As we drove along the small paved roads, we noticed a part of the cemetery with large stone monuments marking the graves. This was different than the small in-ground marble slabs used throughout the newer portions of the cemetery. This older section looked very interesting and mysterious, so we slowly snaked down the narrow lanes, and from the car we observed the large blocks of stone and read the inscriptions upon them. The names and dates did not stick in my memory, but one inscription did.

As we drove, we came upon a large upright slab of polished marble. My daughter was intrigued and asked me to read the inscription aloud. In addition to the name and dates, these are the words that were cut into the stone:

“In prayer, she was an intercessor,
compassionate, showing love.

“Through trials, she was at peace,
optimistic, trusting in her God.

“At work, she was encouraging,
caring, teaching with excellence.

“In all of life, she was gracious,
yet strong, committed to her Lord.”

“Wow,” my daughter exclaimed in unabashed admiration.
“She must have been a homeschooling mom!”