2A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL JANUARY 11, 2017
IN MEMORIAM
Elizabeth Bruni
1924-2017
You can get to the Promised
Land God has for you
As believers in Jesus Christ,
we are joint heirs with Him.
This means that everything that
is His also belongs to us, and
every promise God gives in His
Word is for us (Romans 8:17).
But I’ve learned that it’s one
thing to take God’s promises by
faith and another to actually ex-
perience them.
The story of the Israelites in
the wilderness is a good exam-
ple for us regarding this princi-
ple. They were slaves in Egypt
when God sent Moses to de-
liver them from Pharaoh and
lead them to the Promised Land
He had for them. They had to
go through a wilderness to get
there, and Deuteronomy 1:2
(AMPC) says, “It is [only] elev-
en days’ journey from Horeb
by the way of Mount Seir to
Kadesh-barnea [on Canaan’s
border; yet Israel took forty
years to get beyond it].”
It’s tragic that it took the Isra-
elites 40 long, miserable, pain-
ful years to reach their destina-
tion, and even sadder that in the
end, only a small number en-
tered in to the land, along with
Joshua and Caleb.
It’s easy to shake our heads
and wonder how it could have
taken them so long to get to
their desired destination. But
the truth is many of us have
wandered around in our own
wilderness, going around the
same mountains over and over
for far too long.
Just like the Israelites were
slaves in Egypt, we were slaves
to sin before we accepted Christ
as our Savior. And just like the
Israelites were stuck in the wil-
derness after they were deliv-
ered from slavery, many Chris-
tians are still living as if they’ve
not been delivered from their
sin, even though Christ has done
everything that was needed to
set them free from it once and
for all (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).
Now the Israelites had ene-
mies—the Amorites, Hittites,
Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites
and the Jebusites—and they
thought they were the problem.
But we see in Scripture that in
reality, it was not the Israelites’
enemies that kept them from the
Promised Land because God
was on their side. If God is for
us, who can be against us? (See
Romans 8:31-39.)
The problem was their wrong
mindsets and attitudes. They
were often negative and com-
plained, and they focused on
their circumstances instead of
God. The same principle is true
for us. We can’t have victory
over sin while we think we are
still in bondage to it. No matter
what our “bondage” may be—
an addiction, insecurity, fear,
overeating, etc.—Jesus’ blood
cleanses us and sets us free
from it all. That doesn’t mean
we won’t have to walk through
a process to experience total de-
liverance sometimes, but it does
mean that in Christ, we have ev-
erything we need to do our part
to walk it out.
Romans 6:2 says, “How can
we who died to sin live in it any
longer?” This verse is talking
about how through faith in
Christ, we become dead to sin
and alive to God’s righteous-
ness. The key to this process is
found in Romans 6:11, which
says, “Consider yourselves also
dead to sin and your relation
to it broken, but alive to God
[living in unbroken fellowship
with Him] in Christ Jesus.” I
love that this says “consider,”
because this term indicates a
process of your mind.
We must see ourselves as
dead to sin and believe it, not
because of what we’ve done or
can do but because of who Jesus
is and what He has done for us!
We tend to be afraid of sin or
just think that it’s too hard to
overcome it, so we stay trapped
in it. But through Christ, we
CAN control our thinking and
shake off the “wilderness mind-
sets” that hold us back from the
promised land God has for us.
Start by taking an inventory
of your thoughts. Think about
what you’re thinking about, be-
cause where the mind goes, the
man follows (Proverbs 23:7).
Pray and ask God to help you
identify thoughts that don’t
line up with His Word. Then
study scriptures that will refute
them and renew your mind with
Truth.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says,
“For the weapons of our war-
fare are not physical [weapons
of fl esh and blood], but they
are mighty before God for the
overthrow and destruction of
strongholds, [inasmuch as we]
refute arguments and theories
and reasonings and every proud
and lofty thing that sets itself up
against the [true] knowledge of
God….” And Romans 12:2 says
we are “transformed (changed)
by the [entire] renewal of [our]
mind….”
The battle to live the life God
created you to live is fought in
your mind, through arguments,
reasonings and theories that
don’t agree with Him. But if
you will be a diligent student
of God’s Word, studying and
meditating on the Truth it re-
veals, you’ll begin to think a
completely different way. And
you’ll make progress little by
little each day that gets you
closer to your Promised Land.
Eliz-
a b e t h
“Betty”
Bruni,
92,
of
Cottage
Grove
passed
away Jan.
4, 2017.
S h e
was born Dec. 31, 1924 in
Poughkeepsie, NY to Paul and
Agnes (Ten Eyck) Harrison.
On Feb. 10, 1943 in Walden,
NY, she married Oreste "Art"
Bruni. He passed away in 1993.
Betty was a business owner
and bookkeeper of the Video
Station, an antiques dealer and
worked in real estate.
She enjoyed interior decorat-
ing, indoor/outdoor architec-
ture, was a self-taught pianist,
and enjoyed sewing, crocheting,
reading and gardening. Betty
was a part of the Cottage Grove
Hospital Women’s Auxiliary.
Betty is survived by her son,
Ronald (Nela Ladd) -Bruni,
and daughter, Susan (Dennis)
Deere, both of Cottage Grove,
three grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren.
A service will be held at 1
p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017
at Smith-Lund-Mills Funeral
Chapel, 123 S. 7th St., Cottage
Grove, OR 97424. Interment
will be at Crestlawn Memorial
Park, Riverside, CA. Memori-
al contributions may be made to
the Cottage Grove Humane So-
ciety. Arrangements by Smith-
Lund-Mills Funeral Chapel.
Stuart (Debbie), Brian (Diane),
and Rudy (Pamela) and daugh-
ters Mary Kay Hansen (Melin-
da), Gretchen Lindquist (Gary),
and Paula Dalesky (Kevin). She
is also survived by 14 grand-
children and their spouses, 11
great-grandchildren,
numer-
ous nieces and nephews, and a
loving network of family and
friends.
Mary was loved by many, and
will always be remembered for
her positive attitude and cheer-
ful disposition.
At Mary's request, there will
be no services. Any remem-
brances may be directed to Our
Lady of Perpetual Help in Cot-
tage Grove or Signature Hos-
pice Services.
BIRTHS
Dec. 27, 2016
Jayme M. Spink and Joshua
David Osban gave birth to a
baby girl at Sacred Heart Medi-
cal Center.
Dec. 28, 2016
Cynthia Poli and Chris Beers
gave birth to a baby boy at Sa-
cred Heart Medical Center.
Dec. 29, 2016
Death Notices
M a r y
Rose Han-
sen,
84,
longtime
Cottage
Grove res-
ident, died
peacefully
at
home
surround-
ed by fam-
ily, on Jan. 5, 2017.
Mary was born in New Ulm,
Minn. on Nov. 14, 1932 to Ben-
jamin and Caroline Waibel.
She graduated from Holy
Trinity High School in 1951.
Shortly after, she and her friend
Lois came to Oregon to vis-
it family. Here, Mary met her
future husband, Wesley. The
two were married in New Ulm,
Minn. on July 23, 1952.
Mary is survived by her hus-
band Wesley D. Hansen, sons
Lavonne Annette Chaves, 77,
of Cottage Grove died Dec. 25,
2016. No service is planned.
Arrangements by Smith-Lund-
Mills Funeral Chapel, Cottage
Grove.
Barbara Lou Moss, 69 of
Cottage Grove, Oregon passed away
January 5, 2017. She was born
December 17, 1947, in Coalinga,
CA to Richard and Bobbie (West)
Harrell. Barbara was an advocate for
Grandparents Rights with the state
capital and helped pass grandparents
rights law and was a bus driver for
special education. She was #1 at being a grandmother and a
wonderful mother of three children. Barbara enjoyed spending
time with her family, crocheting doll dresses and crossword
puzzles. She was recognized with a Good Samaritan Award.
Barbara married Ronald Moss on May 7, 1963, in Earlimart,
CA. She is survived by her husband Ronald Moss, Cottage
Grove, OR, son Ronald (Shana) Moss, Marcola, OR, daughter
Jaylynne (Doug) Metcalf, Redmond, OR, daughter Angelique
Harper, Cottage Grove, OR, grandchildren; Robert and Casey
Runion, Sundriya and Mickel Jones, Britnea and Talia Hagen,
Jacob and Joshua Reece, Dale Harper, Kadra Bandey, Merrick
Luellen and 8 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death
by her parents and granddaughter Amber Moss. A graveside
service will be held at 1:00 PM on January 16, 2017, at Fir
Grove Cemetery, Cottage Grove, OR. Arrangements by Smith-
Lund-Mills Funeral Chapel, 123 S. 7 th St., Cottage Grove, OR
97424.
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Ona Marie Secord and Tavis
Stewart gave birth to a baby girl
at Sacred Heart Medical Center.
Mary Rose Hansen
1932-2017
Barbar Lou Moss
1947-2017
Jenna Buetow
Grant Gording, BC-HIS
Vernis Lee Stokesberry, 86,
of Cottage Grove died Dec. 28,
2016. A celebration of life will
be at a later date at the Cottage
Grove Masonic Lodge. Arrange-
ments by Smith-Lund-Mills Fu-
neral Chapel, Cottage Grove.
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