The End Came for My Pastor...on January 1!

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January started on a high note in our home...until we got the sad news that our Pastor had been 'called home' after a 9-month battle with colon cancer. Terrible terrible news on a new year day.

Cancer...again.

I previously wrote about (breast) cancer on here and this would be the third casualty since then. I know hundreds of people die daily but it just doesn't get any easier, does it?

Can we all just come together to ask for a special gift this year? Finding a cure for Cancer and all those other dreadful diseases would be a very wonderful and perfect gift.

So as I was writing, hubby got the news first and showed me the sms on his phone...and everything just turned dreary. Though he wasn't exactly a young man at 70+ but you really foolishly expect some people to live close to forever.

You see, everyone called him daddy, me inclusive and it's not the usual hero-worshipping or the 'MOG feet-kissing' you find around pastors but he was truly daddy-like.

And in these days of unnecessary focus on wealth a la prosperity messages, religious impunities and masked impieties all in the name of service, he stood out.

He exuded a 'strong strenght' that belied his age. You'd think he was weary gazing at his slouchy shoulders but seeing his face would present a different picture entirely. Despite his age, he would stand on his feet for hours on end, sometimes handling successive services without much rest. Would never know how he kept up with the rigors considering his age.

This flock-tendering job is really not a walk in the park, I don't envy those involved at all at all.

I knew he was ill and forced to retire 'early' on account of that but I thought he was getting better. It's painful to me, personally but Papa God knows best. 

I mean the man suffered much and we were hoping and praying for a complete healing and recovery after the surgeries but God had a better plan which is to take him home to rest. 

In these days where the very young are brutally and violently taken, maybe we should really give thanks on my Pastor's behalf for a life well spent. Attaining that age with all the evils that abound is no mean feat, for anyone. Whats-more...he lived to see his children's children.

In retrospect, I took lots for granted in 2014...my Pastor inclusive

He still sent me a birthday message on December 19....I never called back!

I'm going to miss the monthly messages he used to send to every member of the church every 25th...and it's not a small church by any standard.

I'm going to miss him standing by the door after services, warmly shaking the hands of the hundreds of congregants.

I'm going to miss the 'we-missed-you-in-church-on-Sunday-hope-all-is-well' text messages whenever we missed church.

I'm going to miss the genuine concern and father-like questions and prayers on phone.

I'm going to miss seeing his face and hearing his soft-spoken words.

A friend said there are no regrets in life from lost opportunities...only lessons. So I've learnt.

To always appreciate people and let them know it...before it's too late.

Have you ever missed an opportunity to appreciate someone and then they get taken away from you, whether by death or circumstances? Have you ever taken people for granted and then you lost them?

Would really love to know.

And isn't it ironic that he was taken on the first day of a new year?

Maybe it's really not an end for him but the beginning of eternity and plenty of enjoyment, singing and dancing like we read in the good book.

I think of him now as a flower, beginning to bloom in that vast golden field. Maybe he's no longer the old man I took for granted but now a young man whose face is radiant, wrinkle-free like the first light of the day, shinning ever so brightly...in a space where time is of no essence, age is of no consequence and cancer does not exist.

Sleep on, daddy E.A.O.