Growing Together Blog

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Written by Sparky Pritchard Friday, 06 August 2010 14:11

The news was painful and shocking for John and Pat Feinberg.  The doctors had informed the couple that Pat had been diagnosed with Huntington’s Chorea – a genetically-transmitted disease which causes deterioration in the brain leading to a decline in physical and psychological abilities.  Their hearts were racing as fast as their minds as the truth of this began to sink in.  The diagnosis had far-reaching ramifications.  Not only would this affect Pat’s health, but if one parent has the gene that causes Huntington’s, then their children were at risk as well – a 50-50 chance of suffering from this debilitating ailment.

Questions began to plague John’s mind.  “Why hadn’t this been discovered earlier?”  “Someone should have warned us.”  Curiosity got the best of him, and he requested to see a copy of Pat’s mother’s medical charts just to see if there had been a history of this in the family.  There was!  But the rest of the family was never told.

Feinberg was angry as the diagnosis of Pat’s mom had been made five years before this couple had even met!  If he had only been aware of this, things might have been different.  Would he have married this girl?  Would they have avoided having children?

In his book The Many Faces of Evil, Feinberg writes of his realization that the “hidden knowledge” was, in reality, a gift of grace from God:

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Written by Sparky Pritchard Friday, 30 July 2010 12:54

Many emotions flood my mind as I deal with the death of my father.  These final days of watching him and feeling helpless were painful and difficult.  But it was part of the process of letting him go … realizing that death was not an enemy, but a hinge to eternity and the glorious inheritance that my father would experience in my Father’s House.  As those of you who have experienced a death in the family know, the hours and days that follow are long and demanding on time, energy, and emotions.  You hardly know what day it is.  For me it was not simply dealing with the details of a death and the handling of the arrangements, but the struggle to put together the eulogy and message while dealing with many other matters.  In God’s grace, everything came together for the memorial service in North Carolina.  When the chapel service had ended, and I stepped out into the foyer to head to the cemetery, it seemed so unreal.  Was this my own father’s funeral that I had just conducted?  Then at the graveside … my heart was overwhelmed to watch the members of the Savannah River Grass bear my dad’s body to its final resting place … and then pick up their instruments and play some of dad’s favorite bluegrass songs.  It was the best moment of the day … to hear those sounds and have them trigger memories long forgotten.  Across the hillside no more than a hundred yards away was the place where mom, dad, and I used to live.  Dad had come home … and gone Home.  The reality is still sinking in … or trying to.  But with so much yet to do in the wake of his death, there is little time to reflect.

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Written by Sparky Pritchard Saturday, 24 July 2010 05:17

Twenty-six years ago – it was November 28, 1984 – Gary and Deby Wiley joined Immanuel, coming to us from Mesquite Bible Church in Mesquite, Texas.  Through the years we watched their children – Paul, Sarah, Leah, and Joel – grow up before our eyes.  Gary’s passion for the gospel and for the lost led him into the ministry as he served with Good News Jail & Prison Ministries locally and was supported by the church as one of our missionary families.

In the fall of 1992, as Gary and I enjoyed a lunch together, the possibility of his joining our church staff was briefly mentioned.  That was followed up with further discussions and on October 28, 1992, the Wiley family became part of the church staff with Gary serving as our Pastor of Christian Education and Missions.  Deby willingly served alongside her husband in the Nursery, Sunday School, Church Time, Wednesday Clubs and Vacation Bible School.  Together they gave of their time and energies to provide direction for the training of our children in the Word of God.

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Written by Michael Saunders Friday, 16 July 2010 11:42

I had the grand opportunity to talk to Rebecca’s Grandpa while on vacation and he was talking to me about a strategy that he had.  This strategy was his own idea – not something he read in a book or something someone else in the church was doing. What was this strategy? Well it had to do with a particular problem – the problem was the college age students. His church was smaller – so there was no college age group, the youth pastor at his church had recently left, and seemingly when the college students went off to college it was good riddance and see you later. Grandpa Williams, or Sid if you prefer first names, wanted to invest in their lives…but how? What could he do so far away from them?

This is where his strategy comes in. He told me, in his Long Island accent, “You know Mike, I just figured I would write our college students each week. I’d try to send a few bucks in the letter so they could have a meal on “Uncle Sid.” You know what happened? I’ve had all these college students coming back to church, thanking me, hugging me – and at my age it’s great having all these pretty girls giving you a hug! [Yes, he was joking!] The neatest thing though, is that I am now starting to get invited to their weddings, they’re asking me for practical advice/spiritual advice.”

I was floored! How awesome is that? Here is a man who just decided to do the little that he could. He’s by no means rich. He wouldn’t be able to travel to see each of these students, but he has decided to do the little that he could. And that little, like a cruse of oil, God multiplied.

I told him how excited I was to hear that and how great it would be for others in church to do the same – to look around, see a need, and then act. He replied, “You know, I can’t do that much anymore. I wish I could do more, but I just figured I wasn’t going to let my age stop me. I know my limitations, but I’m going to do all I can do.” He started telling me how he gets in early to set up the coffee, he greets people at the door, helps in other areas…it was a blessing to hear someone who has chosen to be faithful their whole lives and then chose like Paul to not stop.