Obituary

Linda René James was born to Walter and Cecile Poff on May 10th, 1959 in New Albany, Indiana. After an eight year battle with cancer, she went home to be with the Lord on August 20th, 2012 at the age of 53. Linda grew up in Tampa, FL with her parents and five siblings. She attended Tampa Catholic High School, where she was a record holding track runner and cheerleader. While attending FSU, Linda met Kirk James, and the two were married on Feb 27, 1982. Kirk and Linda moved to Conyers, GA in 1987 where they lived for 19 years and raised four children. At her children’s school, Linda served as a track coach, assistant cheerleading coach, and a second mother to all her children’s friends. The James family has also lived in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and Greenville, SC, where Linda continued to touch the lives of everyone she met. Above all, Linda’s greatest passion in life was her love for her Savior, Jesus Christ. She led many Bible studies and wanted others to know Jesus personally. Even in the midst of battling cancer, she never ceased to put others first, love selflessly, and trust wholly in the Lord. She loved Krispy Kreme donuts, the beach, and making people feel loved. Linda is survived by her husband Kirk; sons Ryan and Austin; daughters Ansley and Aubrey. She also leaves behind her parents, brothers Tom, Steve, Mike, Pat and sister Deanna, and a host of friends and family who played very important roles in her life. The memorial service will be held at The Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday, August 24th at 10:00AM. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to help offset Linda’s medical expenses to Ryan James at 914 Collier Rd NW, APT 2004, Atlanta GA 30318. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21

Memorial Service Information

In order to commemorate the life of our dear Linda, there will be a public memorial service at The Church of the Apostles this Friday, August 24^th at 10:00 AM.

Directions to the church can be found at http://apostles.org/directions/

Linda James is Home with the Lord

All, Thank you all so very much for your prayers and love! It is with a bright sadness that we write. Last night around midnight our beloved mother, wife, and friend Linda James went to be with our Savior, Jesus Christ. She passed away in her sleep and looked very peaceful. All that day, we her kids, her husband, her parents, and most of her siblings sat in her room worshiping the Lord and praying. Our mom meant so much to us, and as many of you know, she was such a picture of God's love! Please continue to keep our family in your prayers during this time, as we know that some tough days are ahead as we mourn her passing. We will be leaning on the God of all comfort and love who is more than sufficient to guide us all through this time. We love you all! We are working out a time and date for the memorial service and will let you all know when it is shortly. -The James'

Blog update

Hello everyone, I want to thank you all for your prayers, texts, and calls. They have been such a blessing and an encouragement to our family and especially to mom. A lot has happened in the last few days with mom's health. Over the last several weeks, mom has been concentrating on gaining weight and strength in order to start chemotherapy, as chemo is very taxing on the body. Recently, mom has been having shortness of breath and has been feeling a heaviness on her chest. This trouble breathing led her from rehab back to the hospital, where the doctors learned that she had one lung that was full of fluid. The doctors initially drained what they could from her lung, however the next day, her lung was filled again, this time with a fluid that was undrainable. Mom has also had more of a challenge eating over the last few days which has led to her losing even more weight. In order to ensure that her pain is managed well, the doctors have had her on a high dosage of pain medicine. This has really helped with her pain, but it has also caused her to be less coherent over the last three days. Yesterday, mom's main doctor came into the room to give an update. Given the frailty of moms body, there are no options that would address her lung fluid without causing a lot of pain and risking additional serious health problems. Her cancer has also progressed significantly over the last month, which has caused a lot of issues throughout her body. As all of you who know mom know, she is such a fighter, and she has always wanted to do everything possible to combat her cancer. Yesterday, for the first time, mom decided that it was time to stop the fight, and use her remaining strength to spend time with her family. Even in the midst of such a hard day, the Lord so clearly ordained so many wonderful things. Mom has been mostly incoherent for the last three days, but she was coherent right when the doctor came in. This was such a blessing, as she was able to share her desire for the future of her stay here. She was also able to sit with all of us kids and share her heart. Even in her current state, she was such an encouragement to us, and showed us the love that she has blessed us with our entire lives. Mom will be transferred to a beautiful hospice center tomorrow, which is what she wants. After learning from the doctor of the urgency of mom's condition, we contacted our family immediately. Most of them were able to come sit with her today, though we are still waiting for a few of her siblings to arrive.  The Lord answered our prayers for the day, and allowed mom to be coherent for a few hours while she spent time with us. Even her unique sense of humor came out during our conversations. She has a small window of time during the day where she is awake, and we want to make sure that she is able to see her family and share her thoughts during that limited time. When we asked mom what she wanted regarding visitors, she preferred to spend time with her family for now. I know that so many of you would like to see her, and we will certainly let you know if there is a time over the next few days that would be appropriate for visitors to come.  Thank you all again for your prayers and support over these last months and years.  We would like to ask for your continued prayers for all of our family right now. Specifically for wisdom and peace over the coming days and weeks, and that the Lord will keep our eyes fixed on him. He truly is all of our peace and strength.  God bless, -Ryan for The James' "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to  His  purpose." Romans 8:28

Radiation treatments are over

Linda's radiation treatments have finished and went well. Please pray that this next week her strength and weight increase during rehab so that she can begin chemotherapy.

About visitation

Several people have been asking about visitation so we thought we would put an update on the blog. Currently, mom is kept very busy most days, so every free hour that she has is precious time for her to rest. That being the case, she and the family are asking that she have no visitors at this time. We will definitely update the blog when she gives us the word. Thank you so much for your continual prayers and support!

Latest Update

Mom has recently transferred to a different doctor and is currently receiving radiation treatment for her cancer. We are praying that these treatments will remove the cancer that is currently causing her pain. After the radiation is over she will start on a medicine that we pray will cure all of her cancer. Please pray that she continues to gain strength and weight during and after her radiation treatments so that she is ready for her next medicine.