I just found out a good friend of this church has died today.  His name is Bill Bloyd.  Now don’t bother searching your memory banks or asking your spouse if he was the guy who used to play the bass on the worship team.  You never met him.  You see, Bill and his wife Iva (who passed away several years ago), were very special people in my life (and Bev’s – of course).  To my knowledge they never stepped foot in this church – not even once.  So, as you are scratching your head, wondering why he was such a good friend to this church, let me explain.

He (they) were good friends to this church because of the kind of people they were.  They were not the kind who would say they would pray for you when you asked them to.  They prayed for Bev and I regularly.  Because they prayed for us, they also prayed for people who were important to us (you).  Bill continued this practice after Iva left.

Even though Bill had been serving the Lord his entire life, he could sit under a young whippersnapper like me and learn more.  He was not so set in his ways that he could not change when it was appropriate.  We had two pews on the platform for the choir only we did not have a choir.  I suggested that if we moved the pews off the platform, we could bring the piano off the floor and on to the platform with the rest of the worship team.  Bill very politely handed me my head – there was no way we would move those pews.  Two years later after we moved out here the church was getting a new senior pastor and Bev and I happened to be visiting.  As we stepped into the church I looked at the platform.  The pews were gone and the piano was front and center on the platform!  I asked about it and Bill even helped move the pews!

He always had a story, always had something to teach a “kid” such as myself, and I was smart enough to listen to him.  As of today (Wednesday), Bill is in the presence of Him that died for him, and is reunited with his dear wife and some of his family.  The earth is the poorer for it, Heaven has just been enriched.