"Rich" on HIM
We were in one of the general sessions. We had been talking the whole time – and my husband Rich was very excited about the offerings in the breakouts.
We came into the last General Session and Dan did an altar call. Rich had been listening intently to the speaker, and then Dan came up and spoke about God’s Presence in our lives. Dan said that all of us could have more of God's Presence if we just invited Him into our hearts, and then invited everyone to make a commitment if they wanted to.
Rich got down on his knees, and then I went down with him, and he prayed quietly and rededicated his life to Christ. He said, “I want more. I am seeing what more is, and I want more.” That act, that decision in that moment made him more committed to going to church and serving the church. He formerly served out of duty, but then he began serving out of his heart for what God had blessed him with.
We were regular contributors to HIM. Every month we supported HIM with a gift via automatic electronic fund transfer from our bank. Sometimes Rich would send more. We knew we had to tithe the money we had. We talked about where, and we decided it would be HIM and our church. Rich loved HIM. He looked forward to it every year.
We then went to the Life in the Spirit Conference. We went to Alpha at our church because of HIM. Rich got involved in a men’s ministry group, he served in our church more—and all of his new involvement started because of HIM. God was increasing his capacity to love even more..
HIM is such a tremendous way to connect with other believers in the community, to know that we are not alone, and to grow in our relationship with God and others. And not just for ourselves but to take what you have learned back to your home church and help it grow because of what you have learned from HIM.
We made our most recent gift to HIM after Rich passed and went to be with Jesus this year. Rich had been ill for a while, and because we understood and accepted his imminent graduation from this life to the next, we talked about making a gift to HIM when Rich went to the Father. We decided together. And after Rich went ahead, I made the gift. It was just in time to give toward a matching challenge, and I was thrilled to help HIM meet its goal It was something we decided together and wanted to do. I merely completed it.
And now I am blessed. Rich is not here, but I am rich in God.
Thank you, HIM for showing us more of Him, Jesus Christ. Thank you for that one conference where Rich accepted the invitation to receive more of God's Presence. Thank you filling us and refilling us in the Holy Spirit. We are rich beyond words.
