Pastor's Blog

Today, 10/4, at 5:00PM (Guatemala time which is one hour behind Central, two behind Eastern) there will be a celebration of life service for Soy.  It will take place on the basketball court on GRACE Mountain.  Chino & Delmy will be sharing it live via Facebook.

On Thursday, October 12, there will be a celebration of life service beginning at 12:00PM from the church auditorium of Friendship Baptist Church 12581 Saeger Road Grand Bay, AL 36541.  Visitation with the family will take place from 10:00AM until the noon service time.  Burial to take place in Richton, MS at a time to be announced.

Let me begin by apologizing for not being exactly faithful and timely in posting a blog entry each day.  We are overwhelmed in so many ways – some not so good and others amazingly good.

I was up early this morning and Deidra was right behind me.  Daughter and dad just sat and cried, talked and cried some more.  It is very tough as a dad watching this unfold and seeing your daughter suffering.  Deidra can be honest with me and she knows that.  She does not need me, or anyone else, preaching to her or telling her to just “trust God, lean on Him, keep your eyes on Jesus, He will not put more on you than you can bear, et cetera” as we tend to do basically because we do not know what to say so we say the Sunday School answers.  Deidra knows all of these things but right now she just needs a listening ear, an encouraging word, many prayers and to be held.  I am grateful to those who are doing this for our daughter and our granddaughters.  I am not preaching to you but I am simply being honest.  By the way, Deidra did not share these things I have written but this is not my first rodeo so I speak from many years of experience.

Overwhelmed by the grief we are experiencing right now.  I have cried a river in private but the toughest part by far has been watching Deidra, Lizzi and Audrey grieve.  Sydney seemingly not completely processed it yet.  Her time will come and we will be here for her when it does.  Losing Lisa’s brother to death was tough, real tough, but this is much tougher on me.  I was Michael’s brother-in-law.  I am Deidra’s dad and the girls poppy.  Major difference.

Overwhelmed by seeing our friend Mike Parker go out of his way to get Lisa and me from the airport to the hospital this past Sunday and then staying with us for hours.  For being the one who gave excellent advice on what to do in order to get Soy’s body back to the States.  For being a friend!  Thank you, Mike!

Overwhelmed by my brother, Eddie, leaving home without advance notice on Monday night and driving through the night to be with Daphne, Dana, Gina and Henni.  He took my place in their lives during a most difficult time.  He then gave me excellent advice on what to do regarding dealing with the US Embassy when it came to which funeral home to use in Guatemala.  I would have messed up had it not been for him.  He then spearheaded the Zeffy account as he worked with CPA TJ Vice to make it all above board legally, et cetera.  Thank you Eddie for being an awesome brother to me and uncle to our girls.

Overwhelmed by the Friendship family especially our deacons.  I stand amazed!  I am a flawed pastor and yet the Friendship family is supporting me unconditionally.  I am so undeserving.  Wow!  Thank you church family.

Overwhelmed by the whole Zeffy.com thing.  Over two hundred folks have donated in less than twenty-four hours.  I probably underestimated the amount needed but over thirty thousand dollars has already been given.  I believe more will give.  If so, great.  If not, we are blessed beyond measure already.  God is good!  It blesses me to know that Deidra, Lizzi, Sydney and Audrey will possibly have a clean slate financially plus funds to help with living expenses going forward.  Lisa and I are not giving through Zeffy as we simply just hand it to them in person.  Plus, Deidra has my credit card – need I say more?  I also want you to know that Deidra is tighter than our Dutch friends in Michigan and that is tight! Saying that she will guard every cent given!  Thank you to each person who has given through Zeffy or other avenues.  Amazing!

Overwhelmed by Father, Son & Holy Spirit.  He is an amazing God!

Overwhelmed by the length of this entry.  Sorry!  Please keep praying!

I have been asked over and over the aforementioned question.  I struggle with sharing financial needs when they pertain to my personal family.  I will give to your family but I have a hard time asking you to help my family.

My older brother, Eddie, was instrumental in getting a fund set up through zeffy.com to help Deidra, Lizzi, Sydney and Audrey as the navigate some pretty deep financial waters caused by medical expenses, the cost of getting Soy’s body back to Alabama, the costs associated with a funeral, et cetera.

Here is the neat thing about zeffy.com.  Each cent given goes directly to the purpose for which it was designated.  No fees, no charges.

I do not have an exact figure in front of me but I can easily see the amount needed exceeding thirty thousand dollars.

I will soon be posting a link which will allow folks to go directly to the portion of the site dedicated to helping Deidra, Lizzi, Sydney and Audrey.

If you are offended by the post, please forgive me.  If you are not offended, please consider giving and pass the word to others.

Happy twenty-seventh birthday to our daughters, Dana & Gina.

Henry Wyse is having knee replacement surgery this morning.  Pray all goes well.

Robert Baria begins his first treatment today.  Keep praying for Robert.

The Taylor & Turrentine families desperately need your prayers.

This is the hardest blog entry I have ever written.  Very unexpectedly to us, our son-in-law, Michael “Soy” Taylor passed from this life and entered Heaven late last night.  I am absolutely heartbroken, crushed, devastated, you name it!  Our daughter and her three daughters are hurting more than me as they have lost their husband, father and friend.  Will you please just pray for us?

Pray for God to give us favor and wisdom as we try to do what has to be done in order to bring Soy’s body home to the States.  It has been an all night process and we will be traveling to Guatemala City in about an hour.

Please do not make statements such as “if” they had done this, gone there, et cetera!  Soy & Deidra did exactly what they felt was best and I supported them one hundred percent.  We not need, or want, the negativity!

We all have an appointment with death.  Nothing can change that.  I do not understand the why but I listened as Deidra told me, “dad I trusted God yesterday, I trust Him today and I will trust Him tomorrow!”

I thank God for allowing Soy to be a vital part of our family!  I love you Soy!

First, an apology for the extreme lateness of this entry.  I did not have internet service since arriving in Guatemala until a couple of hours ago.  I appreciated your understanding and patience.

It is almost 9:00AM in Guatemala.  Soy remains in the hospital (duh!) and Deidra has faithfully remained at his side.  Soy’s condition this morning is stable.  Still serious but on the lower side of that.  The doctors inserted a line directly into his upper body (collar bone area) late yesterday afternoon for his pain medicines and antibiotics.  His blood pressure has been low since the incident but it is now up some seemingly as a result of this move.  His blood count is on the low end of being in the normal range which means he does not need more blood at this point.  He was sick during the night and early morning but is resting now.  His facial color is not good – pale.

Plans are for Deidra to go home this afternoon and I will stay in the hospital with Soy.  I “may” give him a sponge bath!  Just saying!

Thank you for the many, many prayers.  Wow!  Here are the specific prayer requests for today:  pray for Soy to improve and for his pain to be managed.  Pray for Deidra as she navigates all of this.  Pray for the girls, especially Lizzi, as she is struggling emotionally.  She did not rest well last night.  Lisa and I made her go back to bed this morning instead of going to school.  She did not like that but we did not give her a choice.  She is sleeping now.  Sydney decided to stay home and “help” clean house.  Audrey was fully ready to go to school which she did.

Lisa and I kept the girls at their house last night.  I felt it was important for them to get back to “normal” and they, especially the younger two, seemed to embrace that in a big way.  Pray for Lizzi, Sydney and Audrey, please.

We are overwhelmed by the number of folks who have reached out to us since the incident.  Unbelievable.  It is virtually impossible for us to reply/respond to each one.  So, our daughter, Daphne, is our information person.  Her email address is daphnehutto@gmail.com.  Her cell number (for texts) is 251 533 4595.  She will have the very latest updates as she is in touch with Deidra regularly.  She is fine with her contact information being made public on this blog.

Soy has received numerous messages on his phone.  Thank you.  Please know that Soy is in no condition, physically or emotionally, to reply to those messages or to talk on the phone.  Thank you for understanding.

I will say more about the Friendship family, our deacons and our staff in a later entry.  Just know that this pastor is extremely blessed.

Sorry for being selfish with this entry.  Keep praying for the others on our prayer list.  I pray that you will have a great Monday with Jesus.

The surgery is finished.  Our son-in-law is in stable but serious condition.  He will be kept in the hospital for the next three to four days and then they will check to see what is next.

Spoke to our daughter.  She is shaken but strong.  Refuses to live in fear.  Please keep praying!

Tonight around 10:00PM, we received word that our son-in-law who lives in Guatemala had been shot as the result of an attempted robbery at their home.   He was transported to the hospital and has now been in surgery for three and one half hours.  It is 2:00AM as I write this entry and surgery began at 10:30PM.

Lisa and I have purchased tickets and are leaving Mobile at 6:00AM heading to be with our son-in-law, our daughter and our grandchildren.  The oldest grandchild is very upset having been a witness (hearing) of this incident.  Our daughter is holding up well but her time is coming.

Friendship family and friends, please pray as we believe in the power of prayer.  Someone wrote to me this week and said, “the devil is real.  It is amazing!”  I so agree.

I will update as I have opportunity and as I get more information.