My Friend Tim

Words cannot express the heartbreak I have felt…the tears I have shed…the questions I have asked God…in the last 24 hours. My last post was about life and death and I had no idea that it would hit me so hard a few days later. I lost a lifelong friend yesterday. His name was Tim.

Tim was not sick. He was not old. In fact, he was exactly my age. His dream was to be a Dentist and after years of trying to pass the Dental Admission Test, he was accepted into the University of Pittsburgh - School of Dentistry. He moved to Pittsburgh in July to begin school, in hopes of completing a great semester and coming home for Christmas. What he didn’t know is that he would actually be at his eternal home for Christmas.

I went to school with Tim for almost 13 years. After graduation, we lost touch, until one day about 4 years ago I was at the Dillards in Sooner Mall, and I heard someone yell “BEEKY” from across the store. Beeky was the nickname that Tim and Coach White came up for me in the 7th grade when a friend and I got caught for passing notes in class. My friend had big cursive writing and instead of it looking like Becky, it looked like Beeky. He never let me live that down. Anyway, after catching up with him that day, we figured out that we didn’t live that far from each other. So, we often went to lunch and dinner together, catching up on old times. He was always asking me about classmates we had growing up – he always wanted to get in touch with them. He would even remember people that were only in our class for a semester that I had long forgotten about. He had a great memory and never met a stranger.

Tim had an infectious smile and laugh…and he gave the best hugs. He lived his life telling people about Jesus and what Jesus had done for him. He wanted the whole world to know what a difference Jesus had made in his life. He loved the OU Sooners. I don’t ever remember a time that he didn’t talk about them, or any other sport for that matter. He had met so many famous sports people, I don’t know how he remembered them all. He even had a gameroom at his house that was filled with sports memorabilia. He loved sports.

Tim told me once that he loved to dance – it didn’t matter what kind of dance it was. And, it seemed when anyone was looking for a dance partner, they went to him first. I never saw him dance, but I can imagine if he were a Hollywood star, he would put the people on “Dancing with the Stars” to shame.

I imagine him now, dancing in heaven, walking the streets of gold and admiring all the mansions. He’s probably found every sports star that has gone before us and has greeted them with a big hug. He is sitting by my Lord and Savior.

The last few years have been rough on Tim. He wanted his dream of wearing a white coat to come true. I always asked him how I could pray for him, and every time he would say “just pray that the Lord will have favor on me”. Well friends, my prayers have been answered. The Lord had favor on him by taking him to his eternal home. I never considered my prayers to have been interpreted like that, but God knew long before I did that he would be bringing Tim home at a young age. Tim received his white coat a few months ago. He looked good in it. I imagine he’s wearing an even whiter coat now.

I miss you terribly, my friend. Save a spot for me at the lunch table.