Toni met Jesus as her personal Savior while living in Saudi Arabia. One night she was praying, and the Lord came and met her in that lonely, faraway place. He filled her with the fullness of His Spirit and His love. The most striking thing about her was her love for Jesus. She knew Him and knew His heart in a very tender way. She would spend long hours praying, waiting on Him, listening to Him, talking with Him, singing and dancing before Him. She had a heart of worship toward Him.
She had an intense fervor and gifting to tell others about Him, and she did it in the supermarket, the restaurant, the dentist's office, the auto mechanic's shop, in her neighborhood, over the telephone, at the gym where she worked out, at the butcher's, at the bakery... Jesus was her best friend! She prayed and ministered to hurting people with great compassion and sensitivity, always encouraging and lifting up others. Always she would challenge and spur you on to good works, causing you to stretch, and then helping you to laugh at yourself if the stretching time was clumsy or difficult. Her spirit of joy was unquenchable and irresistible and contagious. To be around her always was fun. This all sounds so happy and almost easy, but it is only part of her story...
She was utterly reliant on God's grace in her health and circumstance, because she suffered from Addison's disease. Some days she would really struggle with lack of energy and would call for prayer. She dealt graciously and fought valiantly with difficult family issues, caring for her grancdhildren while often not feeling well.
In the last year of her life her strength seemed to wane, and in May 2001 she was diagnosed as having pancreatic cancer. She believed God would heal her, and she proceeded to witness to every doctor and nurse she met, praying with a number of them, right up until the end. She never doubted and she complained little... As she slipped away to be with Jesus her ten-year-old grandson was in the next room singing a song called, "Like An Eagle".
Toni was a great woman of God. Her name was not famous, but her life was a lesson which needed to be recorded for others. Perhaps in memory the impact of her life will be even greater than when she was here as others follow in her footsteps.
"Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all."
Proverbs 31:29 KJV
© 2011 Arlene Schwartzkopf