Sarah Mae Jeffries

My last grandparent passed on. Grandma was a great woman. I rest easily with her passing for several reasons. First, I'm thankful that I was able to have my mother read her an email I wrote the same evening she passed. She responded with an "amen" after my mother read the letter and prayed with her. It was her last night and I could not be there in person. The second reason I can rest easily is because I know she is in heaven!

To see a video of her on YouTube, please press play:



Here are some photos of the funeral service and graveside:


Sarah Mae Jeffries of Glendale, Arizona, graduated to Heaven on July 18, 2007, and is now reunited with her beloved husband Glenn Gerhart Jeffries who passed away in 2003.

Sarah was born on May 18, 1916, in Civil Bend, Missouri, to Charles and Atha Childers. Her only sibling Oscar Roy Childers preceded her in death. Sarah was a dedicated Mother, Wife, and Christian. For decades she helped the family-owned business while serving as Sunday School teacher and lay minister. Her "Telephone to Glory" radio program proclaimed God's power and deliverance and helped listeners accept salvation and healing. She had four children: Leroy (deceased), Barbara Shoaf (Dave), Charles (Cheryl), and Frieda Cooper (F. Dale), nine grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren.

Monday, July 23, at 9:30 a.m. at Greenwood Memory Lawn Mortuary, 719 North 27th Avenue, there will be a viewing with funeral service following at 10:30 a.m. Donations may be made to either Phoenix First Assembly or Hospice of the Valley.

"From Hiroshima to Hope" Annual Lantern Floating

On Monday, August 6th, we joined up with photographer Loren Callahan at Green Lake in Seattle to practice night photography. We participated in and took photos of the annual lantern floating to remember those lost in Hiroshima, Japan during WWII. There were a lot of peace activists and anti-war protesters along with those emotionally remembering destruction by atomic bombs. (Below is Loren and our daughter Kaiah)

This was one of my favorite shots

1000 paper lanterns serenely floating on the tranquil waters of Green Lake at twilight in honor of those that have died worldwide. Lantern Floating Ceremony features live and recorded music by World Meditation Ensemble.

Culminating in the 9 pm Toro Nagashi Lantern Floating Ceremony with music by World Meditation Ensemble (for the fifth straight year).

Commemorating all victims of war and violence and the 62nd remembrance of the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

This is a sedate ceremony where those who have prepared a lantern are led to the water's edge to have it gently placed in the water at twilight with perhaps a thousand others, to serene, sacred world music performed by World Meditation Ensemble. Symbolizing souls, the lanterns are a metaphor for the transmigration of the spirit after death, leaving this shore and reaching the farther shore on the waterway of life. It's a very profound sensory and spiritual experience.
From: http://seattle.tribe.net/event/Lanterns-on-the-Lake-Ceremony-Mon-Aug-6th/
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