On March 3, 2009 God's Angel came upon the earth to pick up a very special soul . The name of that soul was Mrs. Bobbie A. Cooley, a walking testimony of the Power of Prayer, Faith, Hope and Love in the Lord. Bobbie was special to me along with so many others of our Cathedral A.M.E. Zion Church Family. I met her in my Sunday School Class several years ago. The class was for single women but my spiritual mother, Momma Karen Courts, was teaching the class and it was such a blessing to me the way she shared the Word with us. Some Sundays Bobbie would also teach and she was such a blessing also. I remember her sharing her life stories with us sometimes and lifting her head up a little bit to hold back tears as she shared her testimonies of how she leaned on God and how God guided and directed her. She always let it be known she was not perfect but she knew about the Mercy and Grace of the Lord that could make her Perfect in the eye sight of God.
She was a virtuous woman. She took care of her home and she carried herself like a well kept woman. She nurtured her husband when he was down .She spoke life into her situation and the situation of others. You just had to see her. She was a Saved, Sanctified, Souled-Out, Fashion Diva. I loved to see her on Sunday morning not just because I loved her smile, which was unforgettable ,but because Bobbie, was going to be looking so good. She dressed impeccable like she stepped off of a runway,and even though clothes do not make the person, they do say something about the mindset and circumstances of a person. She dressed like she was going to a formal occasion every Sunday that I was blessed to see her in Cathedral. Church was a big event. It was an Honor and she dressed like it to. When I would hug her and tell her how nice she looked , she would give me that unforgettable smile , tilt her head up, and point up to the sky and say "It's him."
It was 3 years ago that Bobbie shared the news with us that the doctors had diagnosed her with cancer. She stood before us with a voice full of certainity and determination and let us know that she was not going to allow the doctor's diagnosis to cause her to just give up. Bobbie had also been laid off of her job and her husband had suffered a stroke but she was not going to give the enemy any glory. She stood before us and declared , " One thing God has shown me, and that is that he is my sustainer. A job is not my sustainer. God is my sustainer. I do not worry about what I am going to eat, where the money is going to come from for the bills or about the doctor's diagnosis. The doctor has said I have only 6 months but I told him it is not up to him, it is up to God. I will not leave until God says so."
The doctor wanted to remove her breast BUT GOD. The enemy tried to weaken her to stop her from coming to church early on in her chemo, BUT GOD. She came almost every Sunday BECAUSE OF GOD. She walked in with FAITH upon her head like a crown of Jewels. She wore HOPE as her attire and a necklace of ASSUREDNESS around her neck. She entered like a Queen into her church home and gave God all the Praise and Worship her body could bring forth. She encouraged people even in the midst of her illness. She gave God the glory no matter what the situation. GOD showed himself mighty in her life so that she could show others how mighty he is. He took care of her and all that was under her hand for HIS GLORY. The doctors said 6 months but God said THREE YEARS. In those 3 years Bobbie Cooley WORKED. She did a MIGHTY WORK for the Lord . One year-for the FATHER, Two years-for the SON and Three years -for the HOLY GHOST !
She planted Faith, Hope, Love, and Encouragement along the path of Life and all that came upon her path were touched by it. They could see God's Glory, hear God's Glory, Smell God's Glory because he laid it upon Bobbie and she gladly accepted it because she knew how to take her TEST. She knew it would make her wiser about who her God really was and it would grow her and all that watched her , a little higher in their walk with the Lord. Bobbie was given the Honor of being used by the Lord in the way he chose. She accepted that Honor and humbled herself under the mighty hand of God. She humbled herself to his Will in her life and the life of her family. She gave it all to him. She grabbed a hold to the hem of his garment just a little tighter when this cancer diagnosis was spoken and she kept going, she kept praying, she kept speaking faith, she kept clapping her hands, she kept singing his praises and she kept being BOBBIE.
A few months later in the year she was diagnosed, the Ladies of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. held our Local Founder's Day program. I happened to be the chairperson that year and God laid it upon my heart to do something special in honor of Bobbie. I chose to select her for our organization's Z-HOPE award. It is just what it says , an award to honor someone in the community that has given hope, shared hope and shown the power of Hope . Someone who has helped to uplift their fellow man in Mind, Body and Spirit. That person was Mrs. Bobbie A. Cooley. She had been such an inspiration and testimony in my life of the importance of knowing all that God is and can be in our lives. It was an honor to present it to her. Even though, it was a special award, it can not even come close to being presented the CROWN OF LIFE by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on the day of Judgement. She has a mansion waiting on her, She has a new and better body waiting on her and she has an ongoing PRAISE AND WORSHIP waiting on her because of the Blood of Jesus. I just want to hug her and tell her what a blessing she really was. I wonder if she really knew how much of a blessing God empowered and molded her to be.
My last memory of her as a living soul, is of her leaving out of the church about two weeks ago. I was on the right side headed out and I looked over and saw her in a beautiful red dress looking so nice. I was about to go over and speak to her before she left out but someone else stopped me to share some good news with me about a blessing God had bestowed upon a love one and I did not get to tell her how beautiful she looked in that red dress. On today I looked upon her beautiful and peaceful face one last time. She looked beautiful because if you are in God's care he takes care of you like that. She looked so good. No different than when she was alive. For three years God kept her looking healthy and strong. Unless you were given the blessing of her sharing her testimony with you of what she was going thru , as someone just glancing at her , you would never know the sickness inside of the temple that housed her soul. God had her looking just that good.
My eyes have shed tears of Joy and Pain. I am as some old folks say 'betwixt and between' , because I know in FAITH that Bobbie Cooley will stand before the Lord and hear the words, 'Well done my Good and Faithful Servant. You have fought the good fight and Glorified me among men. Here is your Crown of Life. You endured until the end." I am so happy for her it makes me want to cry but physically I will not see this beautiful and holy diva enter into our church sanctuary anymore. I will not see her looking so cute and whole sitting on the mother board in her white dress. I will not see her smile anymore and hear her voice as she talks about how good God is and all that he is in the life of her and her husband. I will miss her smile. I will miss her words of faith and encouragement but most of all I will miss seeing the GOD in her.
I watched them roll her down the church aisle today on the same aisle out the same door that I watched her walk out of on her own accord two weeks ago. This time she was being celebrated for going home to get her reward. I GIVE GOD THE GLORY FOR HEALING HER BODY. I GIVE GOD THE GLORY FOR USING HER TO SHOW HIMSELF TO HIS PEOPLE. I will end this dedication to Bobbie with the scriptures spoken at her Homegoing Celebration today by my Pastor, Rev. John C. Evans , Jr.
PSALM 71;17-19
'O God, thou hast taught me from my youth and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God , forsake me not until I have shown they strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come. Thy righteousness also, O God is very high, who hast done great things, O God, who is like unto thee !'
The WORD of the LORD has said it better than I ever could concerning the reputation of
Mrs. Bobbie Cooley among men. Lord I THANK YOU for the living lesson. Bless and Empower the Brown and Cooley Family during this great transition in their lives. Help them to keep going in the midst of your Will for their loved one. They loved her but you loved her even more. You brought her and now you have come back to receive her home. AMEN.
