Wayne Gill was stationed at the Naval Reserve Training
Facility in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in the mid 1960s. Every day, he would
go eat at Payton’s Drug Store. That’s where he met a pretty young lady
from the small town of Kennedy, Alabama, named Margaret Crowley. After
a courtship, they married in 1968.
The Navy took
them to California for a few years and then on to Washington, D.C. When
Wayne retired from the Navy, the couple moved to Mobile, Alabama.
At age 39,
Margaret began to have trouble with her vision. She ended up losing
vision in her left eye. Due to some issues with her optic nerves, the
vision in her right eye was also impaired. But thanks to the good care
of a physician and God’s blessing, she was able to retain some of the
vision in her right eye for many years.
Wayne and
Margaret weathered the storm of her poor eyesight. Wayne dedicated
himself to caring for his wife. Other struggles with health would come
into their lives, but they leaned upon one another and upon their faith
in God.
One of their
regular activities was watching and listening to the Getting to Know
Your Bible television program. They heard Billy Lambert preach many
lessons from God’s Word through the years. They learned more and more
about the Word of God and the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ. In
obedience to the Gospel, they were baptized into Christ and were added
to God’s family, the church, and began worshipping with the Creekwood
congregation.
Wayne and
Margaret were active members of the church as long as their health
permitted. Margaret’s health declined to the point that she had to
remain home, but her loving husband stayed by her side to care for her.
He was by her side when Margaret passed from this life on March 12,
2020, after 52 years of marriage.
Although Margaret was legally blind, she
had keen insight. I remember visiting with her on one occasion when she
said something that I want to always remember. I asked her to repeat
the statement so that I could write it down. She repeated the statement
that she had heard and had helped shape her perspective:
“It’s not
what the world is coming to, it’s what – or Who – is coming to the
world.”
She noted that so many ask in frustration, “What is this
world coming to?” But, she said, we should be looking forward to Who is
coming to the world. She was referring to the Second Coming of Jesus,
when He comes to judge the world and to take God’s children home to an
eternal, heavenly home. It was to His coming and that eternal home that
Margaret placed her hope. Please read Titus 2:11-14 for a divine
expression of that blessed hope.
The Good News
is that God will save from sin and give eternal life to those who place
their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sin in
repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10),
and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins
(Acts 2:38). He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to
walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).
And no matter
how difficult life may get in this world, God has given us hope for
something better. This blessed hope will be realized when Jesus returns
to take God’s children home. Margaret Gill knew that truth. You can
have that same hope, if you’ll accept God’s offer on His terms.
-- David A.
Sargent
* In
loving memory of Margaret Gill, 1942-2020. Until we meet again.
David A. Sargent,
Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
Archived
issues of Living Water
can be viewed and
accessed from our website at:
www.creekwoodcc.org
Please
visit our Web site AND share a drink of Living
Water with a friend!
Searching
For Truth??? Learn more about God and His will for your life!
Download Searching
For Truth
videos. They're
FREE
-- visit: www.searchingfortruth.org
To Subscribe
to Living Water, simply Click-n-Send an e-mail
to:
HTML (graphics) version: Subscribe-html
TEXT version: Subscribe-text
Follow
this link to locate the church of Christ nearest you: www.churchzip.com
If you received
this transmission in error or want to leave
Living Water just Click-n-Send to unsubscribe.
