When Clarke learned of the cancer in Stew's body, he proceeded to give Stew the promise of a friend who would be "present." Through texts, weekly Wednesday night cribbage games, hospital visits, words of encouragement, and prayer he has lived exactly what he said. He and Stew have laughed together, shed tears together, and continue to hope together.
His choice to be "present" has not come without sacrifice. He loves God, is a husband, father of two teen age sons who are active in sports, travels for his job, and puts in at least 12 hour work days. Yet, except for when he is out of town, or Stew has been sick, he has not missed a single Wednesday night visit since this all began.
When we read his email with the blog post entry attached we were touched and humbled by the way he shared about himself, portrayed the truth that cancer has not been and is not Stew's only story, and that he included what God spoke to his heart recently. ( We also felt very unworthy of all the kind things he shared, yet grateful at the same time for the encouragement.💗)
Clarke is not simply "like" family to us. In our hearts he is family.
Thanking God for each of you and your faithfulness to pray.
Faces to the Wall,
Stew and Deb
I have never been a poet and no one has ever accused me of being a story teller so the thought of me writing a post for a blog is another sign that God has a sense of humor. But I am sitting in front of a computer trying to organize my thoughts of the last year, last ten years and maybe longer.
I have had a personal relationship with God since I was in high school. I can thank my youth pastor Wayne Hardy, and my parents for showing me the way to the most important decision that I have ever made. That decision was made with great enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge. But that thirst has a tendency to ebb and flow as you make the journey through life. The Holy Spirit has a knack for helping that journey bring you closer to God if we listen. BUT…
In the spring of 2006 I would never have dreamed that God was about to introduce me to someone who would help me, my wife and my family on our journey to become more Christ-like. As a matter of fact, she was about to meet a father that was going to give her a piece of his mind and nothing was going to change that.
My twins would be best served to repeat KINDERGARTEN, she said. The teacher who was recommending this (Ms. Deb) was just a little off her rocker I thought, and I intended to let her know. Ms. Deb had prayed and asked God for wisdom. I came to the conference with anger and attitude.
I quickly came to the realization that Ms. Deb was right and that if my kids' kindergarten teacher was praying for my kids' best interest every day maybe I should be too.
We remained friends and tried as best we could to help support the Stewarts as they walked through the Journey of Alzheimer’s with Miss Deb’s mom, Phyllis. The one thing that I was constantly amazed at was the joy and love that Deb and Gary always had toward each other. They had a marriage that was blessed by God. In this time when many husbands and wives could have acted in a selfish manner the Stewarts showed a love and compassion that I could only describe as young love that never changed. They were a shining example of God’s plan for marriage.
A year later my wife asked Ms. Deb and Mr. Gary to help us with our marriage. Our marriage had grown tired, not bad not good. Over the course of the next six months, they counseled my wife and I, prayed for us and loved us unconditionally. God had once again put the right person, Mr. Gary, into my life and I allowed God to change my heart through guidance from Gary. Our relationship had changed from a friendship to a mentor relationship that taught me the value of prayer, fellowship and accountability.
Mr. Gary and my relationship has continued to grow the last couple of years and then last year the news of cancer came.
Numb- are you kidding me? No this is not the way things work. This does not make sense for a God who loves his good and faithful servants. This must just be a test. This sucks.
But once again Gary is teaching me. He is teaching that me that we must have joy and trust that God is in control.
Okay, so God will send the cure.
Mr. Gary is teaching me that “We need to pray our hearts desires and God will hear us”. Okay, so God, I will pray without ceasing and You will send a cure.
Mr. Gary is teaching me that I need a warrior spirit. Okay I will fast and pray for the warrior spirit. I will not give up because Mr. Gary has taught me that God is listening.
And, in this time when I am sure that He is listening, He sends me a message:
Gods timing is always perfect.
It is never early, it is never late.
It is not always the answer that you are seeking but it is perfect.
My life and my family’s life have been changed forever because of the servant attitude demonstrated faithfully by Mr. Gary and Ms. Deb. I continue to pray daily for my heart’s desire and I only know how to do that because of my teacher, Mr. Gary, that God has put into my life.
Clarke Scott
