Gerald Sizemore was one of the "Lifers" at Covington Bible Church. He was there when I arrived in 1973, and was there when I left in 2015. Gerald is with the Lord now.
People sometimes use the word, "wiry" to describe a man who isn't very big but who exhibits strength and resilience beyond what their size would lead one to believe. Gerald was that to the max. For much of the time I knew him he worked two jobs. Not a "real" job and a part-time gig, but two real jobs. One of his jobs was manager of a lumber yard. Before the big-box stores like Lowes or Home Depot became ubiquitous, lumber yards were where you bought nails and 2x4s and sheetrock. They weren't pretty places. You went elsewhere for home decor. They were what the name implies, lumber yards. Gerald was all over the place. He was behind the counter, he was on the phone, he was loading an order, or unloading a shipment. He got things done.
When we were building the Worship Center at the Covington Bible Church, where Gerald and I worshiped, much of the material came from the lumber yard Gerald managed. He helped me load a lot of 2x4s on my old Ford pickup. I don't remember what it was for, but there was a big order for something. We gave a couple of local businesses the opportunity to bid on filling the order. Shortly after we collected the bids and decided to go with the lowest--Gerald's outfit--one of the competitors stopped by the building site. He saw the pile of whatever it was and said, "Obviously, you must not have considered my bid." The fact of the matter is we had considered his bid. The fact was as soon as Gerald got the word that his was the winning bid, it was only a matter of hours until the material was delivered--so fast that his competitor had a hard time believing it.
That was how Gerald was. As the saying goes, "He didn't let any grass grow under his feet. No doubt, that get it done, and get it done now, style rubbed some people the wrong way. Gerald had some rough edges. Like me, the request was appropriate. "Please be patient with me. The Lord's not finished with me yet." I'm as confident as I can be about someone else that Gerald is with the Lord. Though we didn't spend much time together, Gerald was my friend. The last time I remember seeing him, he was sitting toward the back of the Covington Bible Church Worship Center, surrounded by lumber and sheetrock and sitting over plywood he had helped supply. He asked me when I was coming back. My wife remembers that he stopped by the house one time while we were in Covington. He told us he'd see us when we got back.
I don't regret what I'm doing, but I do wish I had been able to chat with Gerald as he dealt with the cancer that took him away. I confess that I don't know much about heaven. I don't figure there is brush to be cut. Are there trucks to load? I don't know. I'm reasonably confident there is stuff--good stuff, rewarding stuff--to do. Gerald'll get it done. Or maybe we won't really get finished. Perhaps, unhindered by time, artificial schedules, and cancer, we'll just keep on getting it done, without delay, without rush. I don't figure we'll have sore backs and strained shoulders, but will there be the satisfaction that seeps into a wiry body when it does a job well? Perhaps. If so Gerald will tell me about it when I get there.
Thanks Gerald for who you have been to me. Tell Cleva hi.
No comments:
Post a Comment