Goodbye for Now......

Probably by the time I wrote my blog last night, our dear brother, Bob Roth, had gone to be with God. I didn't find out until this afternoon, but I woke up during the night several times last night and prayed for Bob and Tresa. I know why Paul's friends cried when they realized they wouldn't see his face again. I feel that way about Bob. The last time I got to talk to him was at the elders' reception. He was hopeful that he would make it then. He said that the doctors couldn't find any cancer in his body at that time, and he was resting on that. I told him I was glad to hear he was "resting". I had been waiting to talk to him, because so many people were around him. I'm glad I was able to talk to him again, because I won't get to see his face again until I get to Heaven. I'm sure there will be a crowd around him there too! :)

I remember a lot of things about Bob. I remember him being a teen worker when my boys were teenagers. I remember his testimony about how he used to be an unbeliever and then how he came to faith....his intellectual approach to accepting the gospel. I remember his classes on Christian evidences and The Case for Christ that my son and my husband took together. I remember how brilliantly he shared his faith in God.
I remember he and Tresa taking the youth skiing the first time our oldest son ever went skiing. They came up and told me about their experience with Chris. What they told me didn't surprise me at all.... They said Chris went on the beginner's slope only one time and then took the expert slope the next time. They skiid down after him...and found one ski in one snow bank, one ski in another, hat and gloves and then Chris, slumped in the snow under a tree. They got him all together and brought him home, just a little sore.

I remember the year Bob and Karin Kerby were chosen by the youth group to speak at the senior banquet. I remember Bob talking about his relationship with Tresa and how much they loved each other, and how they had waited a long time for their marriage. He encouraged the seniors to wait for marriage and to marry a person who loved God first. For years I watched Bob and Tresa bring their babies into worship, and I have always loved seeing them become great parents. When I was first finding out I have lupus, Bob asked me every week how I was doing, and he told me that he and his daughter were praying for me. I knew they were, too.

Then I decided Bob was an angel one day when he and Tresa rescued me and my kids off of 66, when I had a flat tire and couldn't get the lug nuts off of our van on the way home from Camp WAMAVA. Tresa took a few of the kids home and Bob waited with me and the boys until the tire was changed and rode back to Centreville with us. He warned me about how dangerous it was to be broken down on the side of the road.

Then, on 9/11, Bob was a comfort to our congregation. Seeing him calmly sitting in worship with his family, made us feel safer. I looked for them every Sunday.

Throughout his ordeal with cancer, Bob has been faithful, wanting to glorify God with what he was experiencing. He has been an example of courage and faithfulness, and so has Tresa. His children have a legacy of faith that they will be able to remember throughout their life. We need to be there for them and Tresa, as Bob has always been there for our children and our congregation.

We have a great cloud of witnesses, as my friend Becky has said. Bill Edwards, Helen Baither,Chris Baither, Margie Hampton, Betty Bridges,Sarah Bergquist, Dave Callerman, Carmello Caffi, Tim Keesling....and others whose faces I can see in my mind....and now our brother Bob Roth....all spending time with Moses, and David, and Paul, and Peter....and Jesus. It is amazing...sad for everyone today....but awesome for Bob! Let's pray and be there for Tresa and the children.