Healed.

An amazing person who touched and inspired countless lives went to heaven last night.

Sweet Hopkins was a person that many people knew and loved. Mrs. Sweet, as most people called her, was the children’s minister at my church back home, and I have known her almost my whole life. What I loved about her the most is her love for kids. Even when I picture her in my mind, I see her hugging kids and loving them with indescribable joy.

She took tons of kids to children’s camp every summer, and two summers ago, I got to go back, six years later, and be a counselor. I think it’s hard sometimes to be able to see how things work when you’re young, but as a counselor, I could see how Mrs. Sweet made everything come together and how much heart she put into every detail. At one of the meetings before camp, I remember her saying she was overjoyed that she was getting the chance to go to another camp.

Mrs. Sweet had cancer, and it stubbornly kept coming back. When I was at children’s camp one year, as a 6th grader I think, I remember our welcome meeting and Mrs. Sweet asking us to raise our hands if we had prayed for her to get better. She was so thankful for all those hands, and in my young mind, it was amazing to see how God heals.

I guess that’s one of the hardest parts. Even when she sent everyone an e-mail less than two months ago telling us the news that her cancer had spread, I still had so much hope that she would be healed completely. I didn’t expect her to be gone so soon or even gone at all.

She leaves behind a legacy because countless children’s lives have been forever changed. I’m not sure of the legitimacy of my decision to become a Christian when I was eight years old, but something led me down the aisle one Sunday, and Mrs. Sweet was there to greet me. Her ministry built the foundation of my faith, through all the church activities and her great love and commitment. Because of all this, I am who I am today, and I am very grateful.

I’ll leave you with this, part of the e-mail that the church sent out, telling us about her death:

One of Sweet's wishes was to make sure the children know that God does answer prayer. She believed this with all her heart. She also wanted all of us to be assured God heals. She said "I know I will be healed. If I am not healed in this life, I will be healed in the next".