I've been a member of my church for 14 years. Over that time, we have experienced the deaths of two members and three infants. However, this week has been a very difficult one for our church. As posted previously, our friend, Alexis, was killed in a car accident on Friday, and I received word yesterday that one of our church's care group leaders, Ron Lewis, died on Christmas Day. (That's him in the picture in the black shirt.)

Ron lived on the lake and frequently invited groups of people over for a day of fun on the lake. He and his wife, Janice, hosted a lake day and dinner for our closest friends just before our wedding and did the same for Brian and Zerita.

My two favorite memories of Ron are his detailed tour of the lake area and his love of a particular Christmas Carol. On the lake tour, he would take groups around in the boat and show us all the areas of interest - the apartment where he and Janice lived before they decided to buy a home on the lake, the herons nesting in the trees, and his favorite place on the lake that he called "Jacob's Ladder" which was a huge rickity stairway that reached from the lake to someone's home.



My other favorite memory of Ron was that he loved the song, "O Holy Night." Everytime I was at their house, we'd all gather around the piano while he played and and I sang the Christmas song - even if it was 100 degrees outside. Now Ron is on his knees in front of his Savior.

Labels: Friends