sad

it is always sad to sing or play for funerals but it is especially hard when it is for a friend. our friend max hughes died on friday after a relatively brief but severe illness. we just weren't ready for him to go. his story is one of amazing grace. linda, his wife, when she and max married would ask max to come to church with her or they could go where he wanted to go. in the meantime one of our deacons had been inviting max to come to our church. one sunday morning max asked linda if she meant what she said about going with him to church. she said yes and he said that he wanted to attend morganton.

what is amazing grace about this was that max had a very bad reputation. keith told me that he was the kind of person that people warned you to stay away from. his cousin spoke to me the other day and asked me how i knew max. i told her that he was a yolkfellow at our church. that he was a wonderful christian. she was surprised, to say the least! her comment to me was that she was glad he was in church! he was so much more than just a pew sitter.

the song i sang at the funeral was "when it's all been said and done" and basically it was about the fact that what really counts in this world is what we have done for Christ and that all our sins are forgiven when we trust Him. i thought that was appropos for max.

we will miss him but we will see him again and in the meantime i know he is enjoying being with his Lord.