This JUST Happened!

I picked up my phone a few minutes ago and it had one text on it that simply read:  

"Danny just passed away"  

I'm sitting here in disbelief. (Danny is referring to my pastor, Danny Gray, who was the pastor at Brushy Creek Baptist Church where I began attending in 1990, and where I received Christ.)  

There is a part of me that is celebrating because I know he heard the words, "well done my good and faithful servant..."  

However, there is a part of me that wishes I could have just one more conversation with him, one more chance to tell him I love him and to thank him for all he has meant in my life.  

I can remember when I first began attending Brushy Creek. I met Christ on May 27, 1990 and began expressing that I really felt I was supposed to go into the ministry.  

Preacher Gray began meeting with me, discipling me and even took me shopping one day after finding out I literally had one pair of pants I could actually wear to church. He bought me a coat, dress shirts, ties and a few other things. I had NEVER experienced generosity on that level.  

When it came time to going to college - he was on the board at Anderson College (now University). When I went to his office to talk to him about where I should go he picked up the phone, called the college, told them about my financial situation and asked them to help me out any way they could.  

I would not have ever moved to Anderson and gone to college had it not been for Preacher Gray and his influence in my life.  

We've kept in touch through the years, and I ALWAYS saw him with a smile on his face and a love for Jesus that was contagious.  

One of the very last conversations I had with him is burned into my memory, he gave me a hug and told me...

"Boy, I don't always agree with you, but I am so proud of you. Sometimes people call me to talk bad about you, and as soon as they mention your name I say, 'Be careful now, you are talking about my boy!"  

I would not be the man I am today if it were not for Preacher Gray! I am so thankful for him and the way he invested his life into a nobody like me.  

My immediate lessons I'm taking away...

#1 - Don't EVER underestimate your importance in someone else's life!  

#2 - Time really is short!  

#3 - Say "thank you" to the people in your life who have made a difference as much as possible.