Presented by her husband, Chuck MacDonald
Lindsa MacDonald loved Jesus, her family and the St. Louis Cardinals. She had a zest for living and a love of life that was contagious. People wanted to be around her to absorb some of that vitality.
I recall when we lived in S. California, we would frequently invite a bunch of singles over to our house on a Friday evening. Lindsa would whip up a meal for 10: French market soup and cornbread was a favorite. We might even all go to a local high school football game. After people left we would get enthusiastic thank you's for days, saying what a great time they had. We would look at each other and say, "What did we do, that was so special?" Just being around her made things special.
She had insight and a quick tongue that cut through emotions and feelings to get to the heart of the matter. And if someone was not serious about their relationship with the Lord or their talents that God had given them, she was quick to let them know about it. If she detected bad doctrine or squishy ethics she would correct them in a hurry.
I remember many times seeing her wrestle with a decision about what God wanted her to do or a lesson He was trying to teach her. She would converse with the Lord about the situation, meditate on it a bit, then converse with the Lord a bit more. She would not give up until she understood what the Lord had for her. No slackers around her!
One of Lindsa's favorite things to do was acting. She returned to college focused on getting her degree. even though she was 38 at the time with three small children. It meant some late hours and difficult commitments, but she hung in there and worked alongside "kids" 15 years younger. She was in several stage plays along the way to getting her theater arts degree from Cal State San Bernardino.
Lindsa loved to use those dramatic skills to have an influence for the Lord. Through our church in Redlands, Calif. and later in St. Louis, she was able to act in numerous skits and full-scale dramatic performances that highlighted faith in Christ and the outworking of faith toward personal godliness.
The most memorable ones were "Good News Scrooge," a production that put a Christian twist on Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," a dramatization of the life of Esther from the Bible, and a production called "Bethlehem Marketplace," that took visitors through the village of Bethlehem and confronted them personally with the claims of Christ.
One story that I remember from those days, showed how she used to get into situations, then see God get her out of them. We were living in St. Louis at the time and she flew back to California for a couple of weeks to be involved with "Bethlehem Marketplace" and was dressed in first-century garb guiding guests through the village. After a performance on a Friday night she was driving to the home of some friends where she was staying with. It was about 11:30 at night along a desolate stretch of road when the car conked out on her. Fortunately in California desolate and suburb are often in close proximity. This was before the days of cell phones and she wasn't even quite sure where she was. Incredibly an older couple was walking their dog across the wash from the street she was on. Lindsa (always the shy, retiring type) proceeded to ask for help and explain her outlandish clothes. The couple, instead of picking up their dog and running for their lives from this weird person, invited her into their house and let her use their phone. When nobody answered the phone, they volunteered to drive her (a person they just met 15 minutes ago) to where she needed to go. Lindsa tended to have that effect on people. When they got to where her friends house was they dropped her off and with a wave returned home. I can't even remember what happened to the car.
Fast forward a couple of decades to when she was in the last stages of her 4+ year battle with the insidious disease of cancer. She was in a lot of pain and the discomfort is hard to describe. Tough to watch a person that you love suffer. She woke up one morning and said with disappointment, "Why am I still here?"
She was ready to go to be with her Savior. To cast aside her worn out flesh and take on a new body, one capable of living forever and enjoying continuous fellowship with her master. She could say with Paul: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day" 2 Timothy 4:8.
When you're married to a person for a long time -- we were married for 36 years -- there are times when we wish our spouse was different. More of this or more like that. But in the end, you can look back and see she was the perfect person for you. Praise God.
To close, let me leave with you a couple of enduring images of Lindsa:
Swimming a mile on her birthday. I used to call her the human torpedo in the water.
Going to the beach and riding the waves. Even in her 60's she loved the beach.
A cruise to Alaska to celebrate her 60th birthday. She loved it all, but especially playing with the dogs that compete in the Iditarod.
Her love of nicknames and catch phrases. When I was teasing her about something she might say, "Go bite the wall!" It always made me laugh when she said that.
She had pet names for people close to her: I was "The Dude!" Mark was "Tiger" Tracy was "The Munch" and Christy was "peanut" She used to call herself "Tomato face." because when she blushed (which was often in the earlier years of our marriage) she turned tomato red.
Her love for her new granddaughter Maggie Rose. Even in her final weeks, Lindsa would smile broadly when she heard Maggie's voice on the telephone.
Thanks for joining us today in celebrating Lindsa's life and legacy.
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