Monday, August 13, 2007

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
(James 4:14)

At our church, 50-something Robbie Fregeau is a vital part of our
music/worship team. Robbie plays guitar, sings, and operates our drum machine. (For a number of reasons, a drum machine can be better than a live drummer!) Robbie is divorced and has shared living space with two other guys, Gary and Paul, for several years. At one time, the three guys bought and “re-habed” an old house in Wrentham, lived in it awhile, and sold it at a profit. Currently, they’ve been living in an apartment in Norfolk that’s owned by Gary’s mom.

It’s common on Saturdays for the three guys to have various things to do and to go their separate ways, but this past Saturday Robbie and Gary spent most of the day together including going out to lunch. In the late afternoon, a friend invited them to a cookout and they accepted the invitation.

Having just finished washing his car, Gary told Robbie, “I’ll take my shower first, then you can shower up and we’ll go to the cookout!”

“Great!” Robbie replied, “While you’re in the shower, I’ll put that truck
you want to sell on ‘Craig’s List’!”

A few minutes later, Gary came out of the bathroom. “Boy, I don’t feel so good,” he said, “I’ve had diarrhea, and I’m sweating like crazy!”

“We don’t HAVE to go to that cookout if you’re not feeling well,” Robbie replied, “Take a Zantac and lay on the sofa for awhile.”

A few minutes later, Paul came home, washed his car and went into the living room. Gary had now been on the sofa for about an hour. Paul was horrified to find Gary UNCONSCIOUS! He yelled for Robbie who rushed out of the other room. Paul and Robbie tried to revive Gary with no success. They called “9-1-1” who responded very quickly. Gary was transported to Norwood Hospital and pronounced dead.
Sunday morning, Robbie told me he’d just been through the worst experience of his life. I offered to let him opt out of ministering in music, but he said he really believed God wanted him to continue playing and singing as he does
every week. At the beginning of the service, I had the whole church pray for Robbie, and he did a great job. Later, I talked to my sister. Gary had done quite a bit of carpentry work for her, and she’d recently spoken about having him come back and do another job. Like Robbie, she’s shocked that Gary is gone.

Gary was 51. I’m 52. It really does make you stop and think.

Tell me, are you ready to meet God should that happen today?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It really gives you something to think about when ones peers start dying.  Better be ready.

Anonymous said...

oh my word!!!!!