Danny...

Hey, Miss Stace!  That was the greeting I heard each time Danny came into my store.  I will miss it.  Danny went on to be with the Lord this last week after a battle with cancer.  I just returned home a little while ago from his memorial service.  I just wanted to take some time to tell you about him.

He was a kind man.  He was always concerned about how I was.  How my family was doing?  Was everything ok with the business?  We would talk about his family, whom he dearly loved.  He was so proud of them.

We would talk about fishing.  What were the fish biting on?  Had I been out fishing lately.  He would tell me about the tournaments that were upcoming for him.  He would tell me about the guys he was fishing with that week.  He always talked about them as if they were pros and he was just there for the ride.  Humble.  Yeah, those guys were great, but so was he!

He invited me to fish with him once (actually twice- I fished a tournament with him also).  I had never been on a bass boat.  My brother's birthday was coming up.  I asked if he could come along.  "Of course", Danny said.  We got over to the river and it was an amazing day.  If you have never rode in a bass boat, DO IT!  It's spectacular!  When the driver of the boat says hold on to your hat, you better listen!  As we went through the day, I learned so much from Danny.  My son recently said, "Mom, I think I could learn so much just from sitting and talking with Mr Danny."  He was right.  I fished so much that day, my arm hurt.  It was awesome though.

In the last few months I have cherished each visit from Danny.  We have sat in the store and talked about his journey.  We have talked about God's plan for us.  He suggested a book to me that he had recently read.  It's called "Heaven is for Real".  Read it if you get a chance.  Danny spoke about how blessed he was.  He never complained once.  I knew each moment was a gift from God and I am thankful for those talks.

Finally, but this is the most important.  Today, my pastor gave a quote about a painted portrait not being so much a reflection of the person in the portrait, as much as it is a reflection of the painter.  Well, Danny was indeed a reflection of his Creator.  He believed in Jesus as his Lord and Savior.  He had no fear of death.  I know that Danny is in heaven right now.  All through today's service, people spoke of how Danny wanted people to know that God sent Jesus to save us from our sins.  How he didn't want people to wait until the last minute to give their hearts and lives to the Lord.  So, I will finish with this verse in honor of his wishes:

Ephesians 2:4-9
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.