I remember the last night I visited with him. He had developed a cough and went to the doctor and was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. He was over 6 feet tall, young, strong and in good physical shape. He worked with wood and had made a lot of crosses for different churches. They are beautifully handmade with a lot of intricate carving and some over 20 feet tall. In talking with him he said he may quit the massive doses of chemo and just go on to be with the Lord. His life reminds me of something in the Bible. Man was originally created to live forever but when Adam and Eve disobeyed God one of the consequences was physical death, (Genesis 3:19, Job 7:9 & 10, 14:2, 5, 10-12, 16:22). There is no way to stop physical death as it is appointed for all of us to die physically, (Psalm 49:1-12, 103:15&16, Hebrews 9:27). Our spirit, our thoughts, our intellect goes somewhere else. We can go to be with the Lord, or we go to a place of suffering, (Luke 16:22-26). For example, the two thieves on crosses next to Jesus. One asked for forgiveness and mercy and Jesus promised he would be in paradise with Him that day the other did not receive that promise, (Luke 23:43, 1 Corinthians 15:21-23, Hebrews 9:27&28). Only those who have accepted Christ will see heaven and be there forever.

Saturday marked the 41st Miss Rita’s Easter Parade and Egg Hunt in Madisonville, which commenced through the square before concluding at Madisonville’s First Baptist Church. Children ages 10 and under participated in the parade with their families and decorated bicycles, wagons, motorized toys and even pets with an Easter theme while candy was tossed to those on the side of the road.