Unusual Mother's Day Memories

          Mother's Day is a special day for most people.  It is a time to thank mothers who are still alive and to remember those who have passed on.  Hopefully if your mother is still alive you took time to be with her or to talk to her on the phone if you were many miles away.  Both my mother and my mother-in-law are now home with Jesus and while I miss them and wish that I could talk to them again, I know they are in a much better place.

          So why would I discuss some fathers around Mother's Day?  Well Mother's Day has another significance for me since it was on that special day (March 10, 2009) when the Lord saw fit to take my brother home to be with Him.  And I miss him.  He was a special person.  He loved the Lord and served Him faithfully.  He was a friend and I could share my concerns with him and he always seemed to have wisdom to share with me.  I have many special memories of times and events that we shared together.  I was proud of him and pleased to call him my brother.

          In reflecting upon my memories of my brother I came to realize that the Lord placed many godly men in my paths over the years.  And most of them are now home with the Lord.  Of course there was my father and my grandfather and my uncles.  And there were men like Pastor Jansen Hartman, Charlie Mann, Roy Hertzog, Leonard Buck and Pastor John Dunn who influenced me at key times in my life.

          My friend Norman Zellers from Sunbury was a special friend.  He and his wife were responsible for getting Dianne and I together.  We had many great times of fellowship over the years.  It was my privilege to sing with Norm and the Gospel Four for many years in churches and weekly on the radio.  There were times that I accompanied him on his route delivering Middlesworth Chips.  We had much in common.  He was a special male influence who is also now home with the Lord.

          Then there was my friend Gary Varner.  My wife and I used to sing with Gary and his wife in a mixed quartette.  Our wives used to play piano and organ duets in church. Together we started and ran several fellowship groups in our church. Their daughters and our sons grew up together and are still friends today, as are our granddaughters.  We both loved music, sports and the Lord.  He was a gifted Bible teacher and a faithful friend.  He helped us move and was willing to help us with any needs that we had.  He, too, was a special male influence who is also now home with the Lord.

          And I can't forget my friend Ralph Michel.  We served together in our church.  We took several memorable vacations together.  We were in their will to take their children if something should happen to he and his wife.  We both suffered from arthritis although his was much worse than mine.  He too enjoyed sports and we just enjoyed being together.  But while he was a special male influence in my life, the Lord also has seen fit to take him home.

          When I began my college life I met Jim Herrold who was in the room next to me.  He was a young Christian from Shamokin and I had known his future wife for years.  We quickly became close friends.  He was also a math major.  For two years we roomed together until we both got married.  We were in eachother's weddings.  Then the Lord worked it out that for three years we taught math in classrooms next to each other at Penn Manor.  Our wives and children became very close during those years and spent much time together. Later, when they moved to Pinebrook, we used to spend much of our summers there with them while we taught the children and helped with the music ministry. We visited with them years later, just after it was determined that his wife had terminal cancer.  That was a difficult time.  We visited with him again after his wife died and our friendship was very special during those difficult times.  When Jim remarried I was again his best man and we continued to have special times together.  Jim was special because he was a real prayer partner.  Often he would ask what needs I had and he would remember them in prayer.  I really miss that.  But the Lord also took him home.

          It is very hard to lose close friends.  And their deaths left holes in my life.  I don't know why God took each of them home so early in life.  You think He would have given them many more years here to serve Him.  But that was not His plan.  And His ways are always right.  I just thank the Lord for the years that we were friends and the influences that each had in my life.  God is good - all the time.