My brother Michael was 16
months older than me. We played football
together for a very short time in high school when he was a junior and I was a
freshman. He outweighed me then by about
80 pounds and was an All-Conference offensive and defensive tackle.
Mike was one of those guys that
was just naturally strong. When he
started weight training for football, he was ahead of most guys on the team in
terms of how much he could lift. He was
tough and there was no quit in him. He
played with broken fingers, a sprained knee or ankle, and a bloody nose. He was determined not to come out of the game
and played both sides of the ball. His
strength and toughness earned him the nickname “The Bear.”
I always felt safe when Mike was
around. I remember a time we were
walking home from a local football game and he stood up to an unruly bunch of
guys that were taunting us. He didn’t
lay a finger on any of them. He just
stared them down and they walked away.
Then there was the time when I was injured in football practice and the
coach told me to carry the medical box from the bus to the locker room. Mike took the box from me and practically
carried me to the locker room.
When Mike was in college he drove
a group of students every week to conduct a Bible study time for a group of
young children in a small rural town in South Carolina. I went with him a few times and enjoyed
seeing the little kids crawl all over him.
They loved climbing up on “Mike the Mountain’, and he amazed them with
his impromptu “magic tricks”. One Saturday
he came back to campus and told me there was a girl who had joined his group as a leader that I needed to
meet. Her name has been Cheri Berry for
the past 30 years.
Last week, as I attended his
funeral, I heard stories from his employees about how he would go out of his
way to help them whenever they needed help.
He was always willing to help my parents and sisters when they needed
something done around the house. Even
until the very end, he was determined to get his payroll reports finished,
because he wanted to make sure his employees were paid.
The apostle James tell us, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you
meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith
produces steadfastness.” Over the
past ten months, Mike endured a difficult trial. But his faith in Jesus Christ never
faltered. He remained steadfast in his trust
in the love and sovereignty of God. James
continues, “Blessed is the man who
remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive
the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” Michael stood the test and I believe he will
receive his crown.
While we mourn our loss, we find
comfort in our knowledge that Michael is with his Savior. For those of us who knew him, and who trust
in the saving grace of Jesus Christ, we will see him again. To his wife, Susan, and the rest of our
family, perhaps one day the Bear will show us his crown.
Rest in peace my brother Michael, aka, “The Bear”. (September 2, 1958 –
June 10, 2014)
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