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Morning thoughts from Pastor Tim |
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This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. |
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Last time I left you in some suspense with something that surprised me.
It was quite a shock the other night when I met an old phone man I used to work with.
We talked a bit about the ol’ gang and then he said something about a phoneman being killed just a week or two ago.
He couldn’t remember the man’s name but then he didn’t recognize me either.
But he said he was married to T. A’s daughter.
It hit me like a ton of bricks.
His name was Andy Gilliland.
I worked with him for several years at the phone company.
He was a good Christian man and I enjoyed working with him.
For the time we worked together we were like best buds and we worked very well with each other.
I’ve been to his house and he’s been to mine.
Why, we would even stop working, park the big truck in the back of some out-of-the-way cemetery, lie on top of the bins (him on one, me on the other) and take a siesta.
I really liked Andy.
He was the first to quit the contractor we were both working for and was hired to work directly for the local phone company as an electrical maintenance man.
He had his master electricians license and it was a good move on his part.
I stayed with the contractor for a few more years and saw Andy on a fairly regular basis.
We did drift apart because he was company and I was just a contractor. (Hey, it happens)
I quit the contractor in 1993 and virtually lost track of Andy.
From time to time I would see him at a remote phone office and I’d stop and we’d talk a bit and catch up on things.
Such is the way it was just this past September when he was wiring up a large cross-connect box about ¼ mile from where I work.
That was the last time I saw him or heard about him until last week.
It seems his untimely death happened on December 22nd when he stopped to clear something out of the road. He was struck and killed by a passing car. He was 49.
My heart goes out to his wife, children, and grandchildren.
I can only think of one verse that would be appropriate; Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints. Ps 116:15
Goodbye, Andy.
Morning Thought with Pastor Tim 
when my mother went Home I felt like the whole world should know she was gone. When I see a funeral procession I stop and pray for the Comforter to come. The pain is near indiscribable. But God is so very good. He knows the pain of death, also the reward of life. If we have accepted His Son, death is only a door way believers most go through to inter eternity. It’s been 12 years sence I’ve seen mom but I know I will again. There is great comfort it that. Dear one I am sorry you’re experiencing pain but that tells me that you have love in your heart for others. I love you and my heart hurts for you. YOU are a man very blessed. I and Harold are blessed to have you in our lives. Thank You Lord.
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I’m certain that was a shock to you to find out about your old friend and co-worker. Praise God, he was a Christian, and that is such a great comfort to know that. But it also drives home the point that one never knows when your life will end, and most important, do you know Jesus as Lord and Savior? I pray for God’s peace, comfort, and strength to surround Andy’s family in the days, weeks, and months ahead as they have to adjust to life without Andy. God bless you for being a good friend to Andy during your time of working together, and that the friendship lasted after you parted ways.
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