As 2020 draws to a close tonight, I look back at a year blessed with a new appreciation for my time. It's truly been a blessing to have so much removed from the calendar this year. And these last few weeks have been a time of many goodbyes. While the media and social media has been abuzz the last two days of all this world has lost this year, I couldn't help but reflect and how little of an impact those people had on my life (most of them I had never heard of) and how tremendously others influenced my life and yet will never be mentioned outside of their family and friends circles.
Phyllis Gilland (back row on the left). Growing up I knew her as Angela, Tina and Sharon's Mom. She had the soft, southern drawl with a voice that could be both loud and pleasant at the same time. I seldom saw here without a smile. Even when it was the worst of summer with Alabama's heat at its worse, she would climb off the lawn mower, come speak, and apologize for not looking her best. She lived her faith and preached as much through her actions as she did her words. We lost her to Covid in June.
Angela Gilland Edwards (center front). Slightly older than my older sister, Angela was loud and fun, and yet so good and calm with children. There's a picture of all the great-grandchildren and grandchildren with my grandparents one get-together, and Angela is down front with my littler sister (who was Sharon's age) instead of with the big kids in the back. What that picture doesn't tell is that for some reason my little sister was crying and didn't want to join the group. She agreed to sit by Angela. She was an incredible cook, had an amazing singing voice, and had many struggles and the last two years of her life had faced some very difficult hardships. Angela died in a car wreck in October, on her way to sign papers for her new house.
I don't think you can earn much higher praise.
Leroy Forlines, my theology teacher at Free Will Baptist Bible College (now Welch College), died right before Christmas from cancer. He lived out the reality that humility does not equal weakness, that honesty matters, people are important and it is our job as Christians to help the hurting, and that clean fun is possible. So many stories I could tell here. He impacted the lives of so many. He died of cancer within a few weeks of his diagnosis, right before Christmas.
Mrs. Thigpen was called out of retirement my sophomore year of college when a professor abruptly quit one month into the semester. She became my Interpretive Speech teacher, and I learned SO much under her teaching. And yes, I learned more than just speech lessons. That was a very difficult year for me, both physically and emotionally, and I didn't appreciate everything I learned under her until years later. She died of Covid this week, and her husband (who I only knew from a distance and by reputation) died today from the same disease. Classmates who were ahead of me (they retired as President of the college the year before I started) commented that it was fitting they both entered heaven the same week as they were truly a team. A truly sweet soul.
Rev. Dennis Haygood - An Alabama FWB pastor, I more knew his name from attending meetings and association meetings with Dad, but I attended college with his daughter Lisa. This family has been through so much the last few years and we were all heartbroken to learn he was in the hospital with Covid while the rest of his family was sick at home. Lisa posted yesterday that after a month of suffering in the hospital, he was with Jesus. Not the outcome we had prayed for, but he has received the ultimate healing.
I pray that when my time on earth is over, that my life will have made as much an impact on others as they had on me. May I reflect Jesus as much as they did.
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