Today Reverend Billy Graham has passed away.
He preached to over 200 million people, in over 185 countries, and has had an impact on so many lives... Including my own.
I have never met the Reverend, only have seen portions of his sermons over the years, and it wasn't until I moved to Charlotte that I really began to understand the greatness that this man brought to Christian Faith.
Our office is right down the road from the Billy Graham Library.
When I moved here from Florida I visited, took the tour, and have been back many times since then too.
There is a sense of peace when you pull into the Library grounds, you are right off a very busy street, but the quiet that surrounds you is amazing, and gave me a very "safe" feeling.
If you have never been, I suggest you take the time to visit at least once.
I have been to the cafeteria at the Library many times for lunch, and have brought friends there too...
The chicken salad is my favorite by the way...
Anyway, I digress.. Lets go back to about a year and a half ago.
I had just been diagnosed with a brain tumor. I was scared, the majority of my family hundreds of miles away, and I didn't want them to know just how scared I was because they would worry.
A good friend who also worked for the radio station wanted to do an interview with me about the journey I was about to embark on, and he chose the Library gardens as the place to do it.
We sat on a bench down by "Ruth's Stone" in the gardens, we talked, and as the conversation went on I couldn't help but notice that in this place I had no fear, I felt "safe" and had the confidence that everything was going to be alright....
I wasn't surprised when I saw this quote from the Reverend later:
Here is the interview before the surgery....
I visited the Library often before my surgery, and then after my surgery we went back to that same spot to do yet another interview about how life looked since having the tumor removed.
Once again feeling safe, calm, and knowing that everything was going to be alright.
I return to that bench often to sit and reflect, or to just sit on days when I just need a little quiet.
Reverend Billy Graham has reminded me that with faith anything is possible, that even when we are most scared there can be peace, and to never stop believing in the poser of prayer and all it can do.
RIP Reverend Billy Graham, thank you for the lessons, and also for giving me a place to visit that gives me the ability to step away and remember what is the most important.
Reverend Billy Graham has reminded me that with faith anything is possible, that even when we are most scared there can be peace, and to never stop believing in the power of prayer and all it can do.
RIP Reverend Billy Graham, thank you for the lessons, and also for giving me a place to visit that gives me the ability to step away and remember what is the most important.