Welcome Friends

This web site is dedicated to the memory of Joy Jacobs who passed away on September 30, 2006.

Joy Jacobs Memorial Program (.pdf document requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Contents of Program (when folded):
Page 1 - Joy's picture
Page 2 - Service Program at the Daybreak Church
Page 3 - Thank You from Joy's Family
Page 4 - Poem: "I Will Never Forget You" by Joy Jacobs

Joy Ruth Jacobs, 60, of Mechanicsburg, PA, died Saturday, September 30, 2006 at Health South Rehabilitation Hospital, Mechanicsburg, PA, from complications resulting from a brain stem stroke on June 25, 2006.

She was born on August 14, 1946 in Lebanon, PA, daughter of the late Henry and Christine Neidig. She was also predeceased by her brother John Neidig.

Joy was a Christian counselor, author and sought after public speaker. She authored 3 books and coauthored 2 others, as well as numerous articles and publications.

The following material is what Joy originally wanted on her home page:

Weeping may endure for a night ... sometimes many nights!

Are you grieving a loss? Like Jochebed, the mother of Moses, you may have had to say good-bye to a child ... possibly an infant, possibly pre-born. Perhaps, like Naomi of Biblical days, you’ve lost grown children ... or a spouse.

Do you relate to Naomi’s words? Don’t call me Naomi (“pleasant”) any more. Call me Mara (“sorrow”)! The Almighty One, the El Shaddai, has dealt bitterly with me…

My father died in the 70’s. I didn’t really mourn my father’s death; I grieved the loss of the relationship we never had - and now never would have. When my mother died almost ten years later, however, the full impact of being “orphaned” hit me. Last year my only sibling died (once again, I grieved the lack of “kinship”) ... a few months later, my 47-year-old sister-in-law ... this year, my mother-in-law. Three surgeries within the past two years brought fears of loss of voice, loss of health.

Yes, there are and always have been many kinds of losses. Shortly after the dawn of creation, Eve lost the unspoiled garden that had been her home. Worse yet, she lost the unspoiled beauty of her relationship with her Creator. We are all touched by that loss.

Moses’ sister Miriam saw others around her marrying while she remained single; later in life, she lost her only identity - her position of leadership. Leah married and mothered, but lived with the agony of knowing that her husband Jacob had eyes only for her sister Rachel.

Sarah sat in the waiting room of infertility for more years than many of us live. At age 75 she allowed her feelings of loss to overwhelm her - and motivate her into “making it happen.” As a result, she lost again. Yet in the end God filled her life with laughter.

Esther, an orphan, became a Persian queen. In the midst of the palace opulence, however, I think she continued to grieve the loss of her childhood innocence. Yet God brought Esther to the emptiness of that palace “for such a time as this.” And God has a plan and a purpose for your life as well! Sometimes weeping seems to go on and on through the “dark night of the soul,” as Oswald Chambers called it - but joy comes in the morning! (Psalm 30:5)

What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will give us later. For all creation is waiting patiently and hopefully for that future day when God will resurrect His children... Even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for the day when God will give us our full rights as His children, including the new bodies He has promised us - bodies that will never be sick again and will never die. (Romans 8:18-19, 23, LB)

Have you been unable to understand God’s timetable for your life? Do you feel like you’ve been sitting in a waiting room, grieving the losses of life - perhaps for years? Take comfort. You’re not alone in that room. Many others have been there with you.