Students, family remember Meaghan
August 31, 2011

“Don’t be like Meaghan; be like Jesus and you’ll be like Meaghan.”
 

Bryan family members gather for a tribute to Meaghan Jones.

After listening for nearly an hour as friends described his daughter, Pat Jones told his daughter’s college family that “the most glorious thing for her mother and me is having Jesus Christ show through her.”
 
Meaghan Jones, a junior communication studies major at Bryan, was taken ill and died Aug. 29 on the way to a hospital from her home in Chattanooga. Tuesday night college classmates, faculty, and staff gathered in the Grassy Bowl to pay tribute to a friend who had pointed them to Jesus and encouraged them to excellence.
 
College Counselor Jonathan Doran reminded the hundreds of persons present that “Jesus wept, Jesus mourned” at the death of His friend Lazarus. Vice President for Spiritual Formation Matt Benson acknowledged the tears, but said, like Job in the Old Testament, there should be worship at a time like this.
 
With her parents, grandparents, and older siblings listening, friends remembered a “fiery red-head” who was determined and “loved the Lord more than anything else.”

• Meaghan Jones

  She had a beautiful heart and wore it for everyone to see. She was so fair and I am so dark (in complexion), we were like salt and pepper. I’m going to miss my salt.
• I thought I had a great sense of style, then I met Meaghan. She always looked great. But she had an amazing, awesome love for the Lord. She’s with the One she loves the most.
• There was such a fire about her. Everything she did she did with excellence.
• She had a fire for the Lord you could see for miles around.
• She reflected the beauty of her Heavenly Father.
• We had breakfast every Monday, Wednesday, Friday. If I couldn’t see her face I could see her Chick-fil-A cup of sweet tea.
• When she came in the room, everything got better.
• Sweet tea, a passion for the Lord, a passion for her family. God, for some reason, is getting more glory out of Meaghan’s death than by her staying here.

Responding to the tributes, her father said, “I sat back and listened and heard and know that her mother and I raised her to be a Christian – Christ in you. When somebody is totally surrendered and lets Jesus Christ live through them, you have a Meaghan.”