“Will You Remember Me?”---Miss Nancy Sue McCutcheon

This blog is definitely for my experience with motherhood and being the best mother I can possibly be through Christ and Christ alone. However, when a mom loses a mentor suddenly, the mentor becomes a priority to write about.

Last Spring I taught a women’s Bible Study on Overcoming Fear Worry and Anxiety (Fitzpatrick). One of my most faithful women was Miss Nancy Sue. I think she only missed one session. Miss Nancy Sue was many years older than me (I think she could at least be my grandmother) but she acted like I had so much to teach throughout the Bible Study. She had her Ph.D. from Columbia International and was a principle of Alice Drive Elementary in Sumter for years. I had a lot to learn from her! She encouraged me so, and told me that God had really given me a special gift for teaching. I know God put her in my life to encourage me in the confidence of this gift he has so richly given to both me and Charlie. She would always pray when Jackson was sick and I really would talk to her about every other week. She never married or had children so she had time to devote her life for eternity and time to pour her life into others even though she could not even stand up all the way because her back was so messed up.

The past Sunday morning Charlie came to me with the look on his face (one he cannot hide from me) that something was very wrong. I was about to teach my huge class of 4th grade girls. He said, “Honey, you know Miss Nancy Sue had hernia surgery last week,” I nodded my head in response. He preceded to tell me that she had complications from the surgery and had thrown up a lot (Charlie had seen her in the hospital last week) and they think she had a blood clot and a stroke and was now on a ventilator. What? I was in complete shock. She had just given me my book back, Trusting God (Bridges), a couple of weeks ago. All she was having was hernia surgery. Being almost 7 months pregnant I started crying and could not stop. For some people, it takes them a while to process information. For me, it hits me like a ton of bricks and I immediately react. I was able to get it together by God’s grace and teach Sunday school. I was just so upset that I had not called her back last Sunday night when she told me to pray fro her surgery (I just made sure Charlie went to see about her in the hospital).

After Sunday School, Charlie and I walked across the street to Baptist hospital to at least see her sister. I know that because she does not have a husband and children, I would be able to at least talk to her sister. Her sister and children had just arrived, but they wanted me to see her. I have never seen someone on a ventilator (life-support) and it is so terrible. The machine really makes a person’s body shake upwards for breathing to occur. I told her that I was sorry that I did not get a chance to call her the last week (I spoke to her the week before) and that I loved her and I was glad that she soon would not be in anymore pain. Our wonderful senior adults pastor came in (God has given him an unbelievable gift) and we prayed over her.

She went to be with her Savior yesterday at 4:30 pm after being taken off life support around lunch

• I am really upset because of selfish reasons. I will miss her calling and praying for my little ones…she was so excited about this little girl. I will miss her blunt encouragement. However, I know she is no longer in pain, and I am praising God for that.
• One of the last things she said to Charlie was that she hoped I would teach Trusting God (Bridges) next spring. This certainly is an encouragement to find time to do both children’s ministry and women’s ministry.
• Her voice is still on our answering machine from last week and I just cannot erase it yet.
• The visitation is Wednesday night and me and another lady from my Bible Study will be going. The funeral I think is Thursday, which is my 28th birthday, and am sure if I will be able to go to that.
• With older people, and with everyone really, you never know when God will bring that person home, so make the most of every conversation. This just brings back hard memories of my grandmother passing away when I had not seen her in 9 months. I was also very pregnant when my grandmother passed away, and I just really wanted my grandmother to meet Jackson.
• I know without a doubt that God wanted Miss Nancy Sue to finish Trusting God (Bridges) before she passed away. She tried to finish it all last semester, and tried to give me the book back without finishing it and I told her I could just have it back when she finished it. She finished it 2 weeks ago. What an awesome last book to read!
• After church, I was scrolling through the radio and I heard “FreeBird” by Lynyrd Sknyrd. Do I think God can speak through you through crazy songs like this?...Yes. The first line in the song says, “If I leave here tomorrow, will you still remember me?” I know that I will always remember and love Miss Nancy Sue, and I know she is free with her awesome and powerful God and Savior Jesus Christ.