Remembering Fred

I am enjoying the book, Don't Waste Your Life, by John Piper.  I've just started scratching the surface, but it is a wonderful read!  With all the reminders of eternity lately, one cannot help but be given a renewed sense of the brevity of life.  There have been several deaths in the extended families of our church family in recent days.  It seems that this grey, wet, weary weather is a reflection of how I feel today.  My heart is heavy for the sorrow that so many are feeling, but I know that some of these folks who have died, lived their lives with the "hope of glory", and now that glory is a reality.  Those who have lost loved ones who died in the Lord, don't mourn as others who have no hope.  Their loved ones are seeing Christ face to face.  I remember with fondness dear Mr. Fred Hambides, who died last week at the age of 93.  I remember his warm welcoming smile and firm handshake every Sunday.  I remember his enthusiastic leading of the hymn, "Blessed Assurance" every time someone came up out of the waters of baptism.  He was a sweet man who loved God and lived it!   He lived with the assurance that Jesus was his, and now he is experiencing that "glory divine."