In Loving Memory of
Carol Ann Miller
Carol Ann Miller, 81, of Seeley Lake, passed away peacefully in the comfort of her own home surrounded by her loving family on Sunday, June 4, 2023, after a prolonged battle with chronic kidney disease.
She was born on March 8, 1942, to her parents, Van and Marie (Arvidson) Price of Ronan, Montana. As a young girl she enjoyed playing outside with friends and doing tomboy things like baseball and long jump competitions. She was not afraid to get dirty and would often play inside the tire stacks at her parents' gas station or out in the family garden. Carol attended Ronan High School where she met and later married her lifelong companion, Jerald Wayne Miller, on June 30, 1962. The couple lived all of their married life in Seeley Lake, where Carol worked in the Forest Service office, was a clerk for the Water District, and then spent a good number of years at Pyramid Mountain Lumber as a bookkeeper. Later on she enjoyed a number of jobs as a secretary for a school, a Missoula radio station, and the Seeley Lake Pathfinder.
Carol found great joy in making her home beautiful and also decorating for many social events. She was always active in her community where she enjoyed playing pinochle with friends, Red Hat Ladies excursions, and so much more! She was most happy supporting her kids (and later grandkids) at all of their sporting and other school adventures. She wanted to be there for her family’s biggest and best life achievements - graduations, new jobs, new homes, new babies, senior recitals, big games - and all those special moments in between. In later years, she enjoyed being involved with the local Senior Center where she especially liked playing her multiple Bingo cards to win the “big bucks” or dressing up to win a costume contest.
Carol often sent cards and gave thoughtful gifts to encourage others and let them know just how special they were to her. Some of her last words she wished to send out were these: “Tell my friends I love them all!” Wherever her kids were, Mom’s cards and gifts would make their way to them. She always believed in her children and wanted them to know that they could do great things. “Hold a good thought…you can’t solve a thing for worry” were the empowering words she would so often send out to them.
Carol loved beautiful things and good friends, flowers, birds, picnics, a good yard sale, shopping, quilting with friends, going out to eat, picking huckleberries, and sending her kids on wild lilac hunts down alleys and across town - wherever the perfect deep purple, French lilacs might be growing. She was always ready to travel anywhere friends and family might want to go. She especially enjoyed Hawaii, Alaska, Yankee games in New York, winters in Arizona, and the amazing flowers of Butchart Gardens in Victoria, B.C. She always said that her two favorite words were “Shall we?” and “Let’s!”
She was preceded in death by her parents, Van and Marie, and her only sister, Betty (Price) Mood. She is survived by her husband, Jerry Miller, and her three children: Roger Miller of Missoula; Suzie (Dan Smith) of Aplington, Iowa; and Nick Miller of Anchorage, Alaska. She found great joy in her grandchildren: Shelby (Gabriel Mata) of Garden Grove, California; Allen (Rebecca Smith) of Waterloo, Iowa; Andy Smith of Kalispell, Montana; Price (Keli Miller) of Kalispell, Montana; Daye Miller of Billings, Montana; Matthew Miller, serving in the US Navy; and her two great grandchildren Riggs and Tripp Miller (sons of Price and Keli Miller).
Adventuring Through the Land of Grief
I find reading obituaries to be both informative and interesting.
They give us a glimpse of the impact the person had
in the lives of the individuals and communities they touched.
Carol definitely touched many lives in many ways.
I personally was blessed to have her in my life.
Left on their own, obituaries can leave you thinking,
“There’s got to be more to life than this.”
“What happens when it's over?”
Recently, the pastor of a church I have been attending,
gave a sermon on the 1st chapter of Phillippians
He made this observation. “Jesus wants us to experience
the joy of a Gospel partnership.”
Listen to what Paul said to the Christ Followers in Philippi,
“I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel
This reminded me of one of my favorite songs from decades ago,
“The Great Adventure” written by Steven Curtis Chapman.
If, indeed, life is a Great Gospel Adventure,
then what we just read was an overview
of the Gospel Adventure Carol had lived
with her Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
God designed our adventures when he came up with the idea of you and me.
The Psalmist wrote, “For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
We are not a mistake.
We were designed by God, and God does not make mistakes.
But just because we have been designed by God for a Gospel Adventure
does not mean we are automatically a part of the journey.
God activates our adventure when we become a Christ follower.
Until then it’s just sitting there waiting
So how do we become a Christ Follower?
Not by doing the right things
and thus earning the right to be a Christ Follower.
We become a Christ Follower through faith,
when we accept God’s free gift of salvation
that He provided through the death, burial, and resurrection
of His Son, Jesus Christ
How do we accept that free gift?
The Bible says, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
That’s the faith part, believing and confessing.
It involves both the head and the heart.
The two have to be in sync with each other.
The purpose of our adventure is for us leave a legacy of Christ in us
Good works are our part of the adventure.
God uses these good works to point people to Jesus
Our good works leave a legacy of Christ in us.
Our Gospel Adventure is played out in the various circumstances in which we find ourselves.
Some are highs and some are lows.
None of them are random.
All of them have been planned!
Our adventure will be completed at Jesus’ second coming.
Notice it doesn’t say, “until the day you die.”
What it does say is, “until the day of Christ Jesus”.
The Day of Christ Jesus is always used in Scripture
to reference the day that Jesus returns to rule on earth as Christ, or King.
This does not mean that we will all live until Jesus returns.
What it does mean, however, is that the impact of our Gospel Adventure
will live on after we die as the Holy Spirit uses it,
until Jesus’ return to rule the earth.
Today our adventure brings us to the land of grief.
It’s a place of sadness, emptiness, anger, discouragement,
want, loss, and more.
We’ve all lost someone very dear to us.
The feelings of grief are coming at us from all sides,
faster than we can process.
You might be here today
wishing you could recover the past.
or maybe you’re looking forward to the joy of the promised future
when we are reunited with our loved ones who have gone on before us.Or maybe you're just numb by it all and don’t feel like doing anything.
Wherever we find ourselves, there’s one truth about the land of grief
that we cannot change:
We Can't go over it.
We Can't go under it.
We Can't go around it.
We Have to go through it.”
That brings us to the how; how do we adventure through the land of grief?
If Jesus is not Lord of your life and you don’t believe
that God raised Him from the dead,
you are not on a Gospel Adventure
and what I am about to say may not make any sense to you.
Ron Hutchcraft puts it this way:
There’s a relationship you were created to have,
That you don’t have.
That you can have,
That you must choose.
Right here, right now choose Jesus as the Lord of your life, and
believe that He is who He says He is.
Start your Gospel Adventure today!
For those that are Christ Followers,
there are seven steps needed to make it through to the other side:
STEP#1: Know that you’re on a Gospel Adventure with the Lord Jesus Christ
and He will never leave you alone.
You Are Never Alone. It may feel like it at times,
but you are not alone, He is with you.
When Jesus sent his disciples out to make disciples he said this:
STEP #2: Remember that you’re Not Home Yet.
That means;
Many of our days will be filled with unknowns.
There will be highs and there will be lows
Every part of our day will be used by God for His purposes
Our retirement program begins the day we die or
when Jesus comes at the rapture.
STEP #3: Make Your Bed every Morning
On YouTube, US Navy Admiral William H. McRaven,
one of our most decorated US commanders,
delivers one of the best motivational speeches I have ever heard.
In it he states:
“If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished
the first task of the day.
It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you
to do another task and another and another.
And by the end of the day that one task completed
will have turned into many tasks completed.
So if you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”
STEP #4: In prayer, report for duty each morning
ready to complete the Good Works God planned for you.
Pray something like this:
Father, thank you for another day of adventure with you
Use me today to point someone to the good news of Jesus Christ,
both through the things I know to do and the unknowns along the way
Use it all for your purposes
Help me take this day one step at a time
Commit to completing your Good Works for the day
STEP #5: Be real to the people around you,
those in your personal, professional, and social networks.
Let them see inside you. Don’t sugar coat
what you’re feeling or experiencing.
Let them know that you’re just like them
STEP #6: Be prepared to give the reason for your hope.
People are going to ask how you do it.
When they do, simply reply
I’m on a Gospel Adventure with Jesus that’s full of purpose and meaning
God gives me the strength to start, sustain, and finish each day
He can do the same for you.
STEP #7: At the end of your day, thank the Lord
for the opportunity to journey with Him on your Gospel Adventure
Seven Steps to Adventuring through the Land of Grief:
You’re NOT alone
You’re Not home yet
Make your bed each morning
Commit to completing your Good Works for the day
Be real to those around you
Be prepared to give the reason for your hope
Finish each day with gratitude
The goal of our adventure I think is summed up well
in the chorus of Matthew West’s song, “My Story, Your Glory.”
My story, Your glory
My pain, Your purpose
My mess, Your message
In all things, I know You're workin'
One life, one mission
One reason why I'm livin'
All for You, not for me
My story, Your glory
Carol’s Story – God’s Glory!
I love you, Carol and miss you greatly!
Let’s Pray.
