It is early morning and I am having my first coffee of the day- indeed my first coffee of the week. In a few hours I will be heading north up Highway 51 to the little town of Halls, Tennessee. I have been there before under the same circumstances. I am going to help a family say good-bye to a loved one. The last funeral I did there was on November 11, 2004, for Geraldine Tomlinsom. However, today the focus will be on Allan, her beloved husband. Mr. Allan, who so tirelessly took care of his wife during her very lengthy illness, finally succumbed to his own health problems a few days ago. I imagine that today they are having quite the reunion as she fills him in on everything. She was always the talker, while he was the quiet one. Mr. Allan will forever stand out in my mind as a testimony of faithfulness. Although his own health was failing, I never went by the nursing home to check on her that he was not there. And although times were tough and I am sure money was tight, every month he would drop by the church office to turn in his tithe envelope. They say we all really preach our own funeral. If that is indeed true, what a message we should hear in Halls, Tennessee this morning. If the Lord tarries, someone will someday be conducting your funeral. Do them a favor. Make it an easy and exciting affair. Leave a legacy of faithfulness for others to follow that will speak volumes to folks long after you are gone. This is certainly what Allan Tomlinsom did.

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith…” II Timothy 4:7

Tennessee bound,

Bro. James