Today we lost a beautiful person to the ravages of cancer, E. L. Thomas. I will always remember how he introduced himself to me as we met for the first time several years ago. He was the lay leader at the church I was being appointed to serve. He stuck out that salesman hand, and with a huge smile on his face said: “Hello preacher, I am E.L. Thomas – your lay leader – the E.L. stands for “Ever Lovin’”. We had a good laugh about that, but I later realized that “Ever Lovin’” described him to a tee.
I never saw E.L. just sitting around. He was always a blur of motion and activity – always laughing, always planning, always on the move, always helping, hoping and praying.
E.L. was also a bright and shinning example of caring for all of us to see, as he constantly cared for his wife Martha who was going through the different stages of MS. I know there must have been moments when he was at the edge of his energy, when he felt like he couldn’t do this any more. But we never saw that. We saw an E.L. who was always lifting, hauling, caring – doing all he could for the love of his life. If we could care for our spouse half as much as E.L. cared for Martha we would be in great shape. He set the example by showing us it could be done… and done with style.
I loved his smile which opened the world to his heart. He was a happy, loving man who really cared for people – all sorts of people – and cared for his Lord and His church. He was always excited about his church and what we were doing and could do. When we saw E.L. we saw a man who was being touched by Jesus.
I will miss him – we all will – because we need, really need people like E.L. Thomas – people who bring the Lord into our presence with their care, energy, love and grace. “Ever Lovin’” we are gonna miss you – but we know you and Jesus will always be Forever Lovin’.
You will notice at the bottom of the header (above) are a list of my books. I have added the last one so you can order The Grieving Heart in paperback form. All the other books are eBooks. I hope that you will take the opportunity to read these and I hope they will help to bring you comfort and grace in time of need.
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The Journey 