We had sickness in the Hofman house last week. Lanie caught something and shared it with me and then with Tess. As I was coming down with the sickness on Tuesday night, I received a call that one of our church members had died. On Wednesday, while sick, I talked with the sister of the deceased, who requested that we sing "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" and "Just as I Am" at the funeral. That sounded great to me. The family shared those same requests with the funeral home, and the song titles and hymnal numbers were printed up for Saturday. By Friday both Tess and I were feeling better, so I went back to work. However, mentally I was not 100%. While typing up the order of service for my manuscript, I listed the second song as "And Can It Be," even though I had "Just as I Am" written on my notes from Wednesday. For the life of me, I can't figure out where I got "And Can It Be" from. When Saturday came, I was totally unaware of my error. I looked at my plans and announced "And Can It Be" as the second song. The organist must have been confused, but she followed my lead, as did the congregation, who either didn't notice my change or assumed the funeral home had made a mistake. One member of the family tried to mouth the number for "Just as I Am" to me, but I didn't understand. I had announced the correct number for "And Can It Be," and that tune was already playing. Everything was fine. We finished the service and went to the gravesite and then returned to the church for refreshments. Then and only then the family was able to explain to me that I had announced the wrong song. I apologized, and we chuckled. Next time I'll double check what the funeral home has printed.
Grace and peace,
BMH
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