Ridgell's Originals

 Judy Truitt went to her forever home this past Tuesday.  She and her husband Don were our best friends back in the early 70's.  Well, it was really more than that.  We were inseparable for a couple of years.  They had only been married a year or so when they moved to Abilene and we were about to get married.  We did ministry together.  We did church together.  We did life together.  It was one of those friendships that it never mattered how long since you had seen each other, it was as if no time at all had passed.  Just picked up where we left off.  

And now Judy made it home before the rest of us.  

She and Don did a lot of ministry over the years.  Judy was a people person thru and thru.  Opened their home everywhere they lived.  Fed a lot of people.  Counseled a lot of young women.  Organized a lot of showers and church activities.  Smiled a lot.  Raised a family.  Prayed for lots of people.  Taught Bible class.  Lived her faith.

She was what I would call a "people-toucher."  When you said church, she thought people.  

They did full-time ministry, part-time ministry, mission work, volunteer ministry, and campus ministry.  She was a preacher's wife but very much had her own ministry.  Touched a lot of university student lives while they were at York.  Part of a church plant in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  I was at that church a few years ago and it still active.  And she touched a lot of people in youth ministry, going back to those days when we hung out at Southern Hills 45 years ago.

She touched our lives.  Judy and Don.  Steve and Marsha.  Steve and Don.  Judy and Marsha.  We were teammates and fellow warriors in the battle against the evil in our world. 

Judy knew you never "earn your reward."  We are all saved by grace.

But I do believe that she got to see God face to face last Tuesday.  And when she did, He told her that she  "did good."  Now it is time to enjoy the rewards forever.

So thanks Judy for loving so many of us so well.  And for helping us see how to love God.

Don will be along soon.  And so will we.

And we can hang out again together.

Forever.

Labels: Death, People

# posted by Steve @ 6:00 AM 2 comments

Tom Olbricht recently got to go home to be with Jesus forever.  He was one of my Bible professors and I had him for several classes at ACU.  I was not one of Tom's boys.  Every professor had those students that were their guys.  I wasn't really a great scholar like many of my classmates.  Didn't spend hours in the library.  Didn't go to any of the Scholar conferences with Tom -- or any of my other professors for that matter.  Never even went to the Bible majors retreat.  So not really one of his guys.  

But I learned a lot from Tom Olbricht and developed a great admiration and respect for him.

He helped me get a sense of the great stories of the Old Testament.  The themes that were present throughout the Scriptures.  And he did the same for the New Testament.  Showing Jesus in the Gospels, Acts, and the Epistles.  And it was surprisingly easy to understand.  Which is amazing because he was an outstanding scholar.  Not just in Bible and Theology.  But advanced degrees in Speech and Communication.  Restoration History scholar.  

He really cared about me for who I was.  I was not going to get a Doctorate.  I was learning so I could share the Bible with ordinary people.  You know, people like me.  He was on my committee when I did my Master's in Restoration History.  I remember during Orals he asked me what I had learned that I would use in ministry.  I always appreciated that. It was OK that I wan't like him. 

We were on a program together a few years ago.  A preacher's retreat.  He talked about Restoration History.  I talked about evangelism.  He spent several minutes of his first presentation talking about me.  How he remembered my enthusiasm for ministry while in college.  How he had kept up with me thru the years.  Even knew about my work with Herald of Truth.  Even said how difficult it was to follow me on the program.  Amazing.

And I did publicly thank him for what I learned from him  Including things I learned that weekend. 

We weren't much alike at all.  He was not who I would have picked as my role model. And I was not who he would have pointed to as one of his outstanding students.

But I learned to appreciate from Dr. Tom how important it is to value the people not like you.  To love them and to celebrate their gifts and work in the Kingdom.

Funny thing -- he was proud of me.  And he did claim me as one of his best students.  And it had nothing to do with academics.  And he ended up being one of my role models.  

We need to be more like Tom Olbricht.

Labels: Death, People, Preaching

# posted by Steve @ 6:00 AM 0 comments