The Finish Line

The Finish Line




...the time has come for my departure.
I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith.
Now there is in store for me
the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will award to me on that day—
and not only to me,
but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

2 Timothy 4:6-8

Barbara Osbron went home to be with the Lord at 7:27 this morning, Minnesota, USA time, 9:27 p.m. Philippine time.

I couldn't help but shed tears when the news reached me.

Ernie and I had only been married one year when we moved to Bacolod City in June 1979. We were looking for a church that we wanted to grow up in.

Friends in Manila had already told us about the church pastored by Jerry Osbron. Jerry and Barb were American missionaries from Minnesota.


From the moment we stepped into the church where they served as ministers, Ernie and I knew we had found a family and a home.

For nearly 15 years, until they retired in 1994, Jerry and Barb pastored our church with love, faithfulness, integrity, and passion.

They nurtured our faith, and modeled for us what it means to truly follow the Lord, not with our heads, but with our hearts.

They showed us first hand what a Holy Spirit-led church looked like.

They were faithful gatekeepers, they never abandoned their post.

They were real life examples of God's acceptance and affirmation.


Jerry and Barb became my spiritual father and mother; Barb will always have a special place in my heart.

She taught me how to bake cookies. She would give us lovely Siamese kittens that became a beautiful part of my children's growing up years.

She was my natural childbirth Lamaze instructor and coach for the birth of my three children.

She was my La Leche League motivator who encouraged me and cheered me on as I was just learning how to breastfeed my first born son.

As a young mother of three, I would run to her for counsel and comfort. I will never forget her words of wisdom to me during very trying times: "Lidj, remember, this too shall pass."

She was the mentor who taught me the value of pursuing intimacy with God above all other pursuits.

And when my heart was wrapped up in offense, and I was struggling with hurts, she would say to me, without batting an eyelash: "Lidj, what you do with your own hurts is your own business. The choice to forgive is yours. Release those who have offended you. You CANNOT... you MUST NOT, live in unforgiveness!"

Everything in life is a test...and a choice. This was a very important truth that Barb imparted to me.


If there is one lesson that Jerry and Barb engraved in my heart, it is the lesson of learning to forgive.

It is through their ministry that I discovered the many layers of unforgiveness inside my heart, deep seated anger that was effectively hidden underneath.

Those were the early years of my Christian life when I was a perfectionist and took secret pride in being one. Having had a good upbringing and a good education, I could do almost all things well.

But Jerry and Barb saw through it all... and lovingly they helped uncover the layers of pride, and through their gentle ministry of prayer and Godly counsel, the hardened layers of my heart began to soften.

Forgiveness is a choice. Jerry would preach this to us time and time again.

When you retain others in unforgiveness, you burn the very bridge over which you yourself must cross someday.

Forgiving someone who has done you wrong sets two persons free -- that person, and yourself.

I will never forget the valuable lessons I learned about forgiveness from this dear couple who mentored us, poured their lives into our lives.


Barb talked often of someday writing her book. Its title: Stones of Remembrance.

I don't know if she ever got to write it. But I do know that she has left many stones of remembrance in my own life.

Barb taught me the meaning of endurance, of persevering, of never giving up.

Matthew 24:13 says

He who endures to the end will be saved.

God is looking for overcomers, those who will not quit when the going gets rough, those who will not give up in the heat of trial, those who will finish the race. Barb's words of encouragement deeply etched in my memory.

Barb lived what she taught. She was a private person who did not openly share her pain and her trials. I know she has shed many tears behind the scenes.

She alone knows the many thorns that have pierced her mother heart.

But we have seen her endurance, her steadfastness under difficult circumstances. She held on to God; she was a prayerful woman.

She stayed on course, focused on the goal. She never gave up. She fought the good fight.



Today Barb has crossed the finish line. She has overcome, she wears the victor's crown.

And as I remember much of what she has deposited in my life, I do so with the joyous expectation that I will see her again someday.

Goodbye for now Barb, my dearest friend, my mentor and spiritual mother! Thank you for your life. I will always love you. We will be together in eternity.



Below is a hymn by written by Steve Fry that best summarizes the kind of life that Jerry and Barb modeled for us.

Indeed, I will be forever grateful for the life of Barb that has been poured out for many of us.

Let It Be Said of Us

Let it be said of us that the Lord was our passion,
That with gladness we bore ev'ry cross we were given,
That we fought the good fight, that we finished the course,
Knowing within us the pow'r of the risen Lord.

Let the cross be our glory
And the Lord be our song,
By mercy made holy,
By the Spirit made strong
Let the cross be our glory
And the Lord be our song,
'Til the likeness of Jesus
Be through us made known.
Let the cross be our glory
And the Lord be our song.

Let it be said of us: We were marked by forgiveness,
We were known by our love and delighted in meekness,
We were ruled by His peace, heeding unity's call,
Joined as one body that Christ would be seen by all.

Let the cross be our glory
And the Lord be our song,
By mercy made holy, by the Spirit made strong
Let the cross be our glory
And the Lord be our song,
'Til the likeness of Jesus
Be through us made known.
Let the cross be our glory
And the Lord be our song.

(Words and music by Steve Fry)

Read about out Memorial Service for Barbara Osbron: Honoring Barb