Just returned from visitation for Donnie Poore.  His was truly a life well-lived if number of people attending said visitation is any indication.  So many lives the man touched.  I have known him all of my life, because his home church was also my home church.  However, during the formative years of our lives I was not living in the Shelbina area where Donnie lived and prospered.  Obviously Donnie was not born the man he had become before his untimely death.  God had taken 69 years to mold him into the Donnie Poore which was so respected and loved by our little community.  He will be greatly missed by his wife, 3 children, siblings, grandchildren, extended family, and a host of Christian brothers and sisters.
 On a personal level, I will miss him, as he was the lead Sunday School teacher of the class which I will now be teaching.  Perhaps I have learned lessons in class growth from Donnie.  I saw how Donnie took an active interest in all those who attended the class; how he was able to make a person feel special.  He willingly gave  of his time, and thus of his life, to those with whom he came in contact.  He even embraced technology, which is omnipresent in our society today.  And that cannot have been easy for someone of his age. He was not afraid to get his hands dirty-literally-the man was a worker.
Now, Donnie has a time of rest until our Lord returns.  Our loss of his presence here on planet Earth is not easy.  But we need to realize that it is counted as gain for Donnie Poore.  Someday, his family will be reunited with him in Heaven.  That is the promise that we have from God.
Would that we could all have a faith such as Donnie exhibited in a life well-lived.  So long, my friend.  I will see you on the other side.  Maybe we can meet at the flagpole in Heaven-surely there is one.