Tag: Death

Welcome home Gary

January 21, 2026

I first met Gary about fifty-three years ago. I know that because I had not met my wife yet. I was introduced to her fifty-two years ago. Don and I traveled to Hamlin Memorial Baptist Church from Immanuel, where we went. We had been called to restart the Royal Ambassador program there.

Gary, the associational R.A. director, asked us to visit them on Wednesday evening. In the summer, I volunteered to be a counselor at Baptist Hill, which is important to him. He also called me, and I scheduled a practice game for the Immanuel women’s softball team I led and the Hamlin team he coached.

I began to see him often after Cindy, and I started dating. He and Geri were at our wedding, which was held at Cindy’s church, Hamlin. Gary was our class leader when we visited on weekends while we lived in Joplin. After we moved back to Springfield, he was our young married class leader until I began teaching.

Gary was a deacon, and he and his wife were involved in many events where the Deacon Body led the church. I joined his R.A. staff and worked closely with him, and later became the R.A. Director when he moved on to other ministries.

I took some advice from him and took a week of vacation from work each summer to lead Vacation Bible School. He was working with younger people to teach them to become the leaders that they are today. When his kids were in the children’s and youth groups, I was one of their teachers.

One Sunday, when Ryan, his son, was in my seventh and eighth grade class, we had an impromptu discussion of sex. Our lessons had an annual discussion on this subject. That morning, I answered questions that the boys had. I ended the class with a warning to them to tell their parents that we discussed chocolate, if they were asked.

That evening at church, Gary confronted me and wanted to know what his son meant when he told him our lesson was on chocolate. I explained a story I had used to teach the young men on the correct approach to sex. Some of those men remember that discussion; others do not. I often would use this code word to alert Gary when I was broaching this subject with a group.

Gary and I continued to work together as Deacons and leaders at Hamlin until they moved to another church, and he continued to be the same man who had taught me how to be a better minister and father. Gary’s life was not as easy as mine had been. He had served in Vietnam and experienced situations I never had.

Gary and Geri’s son and daughter know more about the trials that he experienced. I witnessed his anger on a few occasions and tried to understand because I also have issues with anger. Most of us do at times. Like all of us, we are not perfect.

Gary knew that he was not without sin. He taught his children and I that, despite our sinful state, Jesus could be our savior and Lord. Because he knew this, when his earthly body died, his soul and spirit went home. He was welcomed there as we who have accepted Jesus will be.

©Copyright 2026 by Charles Kensinger

Welcome home, Carl

May 18, 2025

Some of you would say that you lost another friend. Carl is not lost. He hasn’t been lost since he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior around the time I was born. I know he is in the presence of God which we often refer to as Heaven.

Carl and I had many conversations about Jesus and Heaven over the forty plus years that we have known each other. I met him when I joined Hamlin Memorial Baptist Church. He was our deacon for years.

He recruited me to lead Church Training classes and recommended me for the position when he stepped down. We served on the BTN committee at church for its short-lived tour. The Greene County Baptist Association joined this organization which provided training materials to churches and associations.

He was my mentor in the deacon ministry when I was first ordained. A few years later when he was the chairman of the deacon body, he asked me to be the assistant chairman. This meant I would be the next chairman. Thanks to Carl I got the pleasure of leading the congregation during the retirement of our friend and pastor.

His son Greg worked for my wife before she had our first daughter. Carl and Harriett became surrogate grandparents for our children when we moved into their neighborhood. For almost twenty years we remained neighbors and would visit them while Harriett was homebound.

As our deacon he joined me in the waiting room when Cindy had surgeries. We ministered together with the other deacons and leaders in the church. The stories I remember are too numerous to recount here. I’ll share one that very few know about.

Greg was working in Kansas City when a walkway collapsed at the hotel where he was employed. It was a story that hit our local news. We called Carl and Harriett and asked if they had heard from their son. They had a call from him. He was fine.

While they were dealing with Harriett’s health issues, I was often his sounding board. We did not live far from each other and before Carl had to stay home with her, I saw him at church every week. We had an agreement that nothing we said to each other would ever be repeated.

I used to say that I would see friends in Heaven when I arrived there some day. Today Jesus’ words have led me to believe that we are already there. It is not like we drop into God’s presence when we accept Christ. Being outside of time, He has us with Him even before our death on this planet. I know that sounds strange. Trust Him and you are with those you love who trust Him as well.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger

Goodbye, Meow

December 9, 2022

Some of you will not relate to this column. Others will understand and some may have had similar tragedies in their lives. Thirteen years ago, our daughter’s family adopted a kitten. Their oldest girl gave it the name Meow. This was what she answered when asked what a cat says. They had a new baby girl at the time. She is now in Middle School.

meow has been slowing down the last few years. As we all must, she died tonight. For those of you who have fur babies and children, you know how this family is hurting.

I’ve buried a number of pets over the years. My wife did not grow up with dogs or cats around the house. When we moved into our second rental house and discovered that we could keep a dog in the fenced yard, we got our first dog. Our home has been blessed with many furry friends for over forty years.

Our daughters know the pain of losing a loved one because they have had these friends die. We have lost cats, dogs, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, bunnies, lizards, fish, and even a chicken that I called dinner. That last one left our home alive. We never asked the farmer who took him what happened after he went to the farm. The first chick we took in died a few days after it was brought home.

Life goes on even when we lose human loved ones. Being able to cope with this grief can be learned by children if they suffer the pain of losing a pet. Losing a cat is not as bad as having a family member die. For children, it can be as traumatic.

My grandmother and President Kennedy both died in 1963. I do not remember being that upset by either of those deaths. When we lost our cat, princess, weeks later, it bothered me a lot more. Dealing with death is difficult for anyone. Children can have trouble coping with these feelings.

Raising children and grandchildren is often challenging. I ask that you remember this family as they teach the kids how to cope with emotions that they have not experienced before. If your family is grieving over a loved one or a pet, I would like to say that I am sorry for your loss and hope that this article has helped in a small way. God bless you.

©Copyright 2022 by Charles Kensinger

What I won’t die from

September 26, 2022

Embarrassment, inactivity, and boredom are three things that occur to my mind immediately. Those who know me well recognize that I am not easily embarrassed. Nothing I do will cause my demise due to others’ awareness that I did that. I may turn red on my face. I will not get hot enough to burst into flames. Yes, I am aware of spontaneous combustion.

The Bible gives a lot of warnings about sloth. Not the jungle animals. Sloth is another word for laziness. You can waste your entire life by not doing anything. I know many will not agree with these comments. I believe the following are wastes of time. Watching television, playing video games, and checking your cell phone for Facebook messages.

I put watching television first because that is my downfall. I used to play video games but could only play for 20 seconds before losing all my lives. My cell phone is used for three things. To make and receive calls. To read books. For my wife to keep track of where I am if I should start having trouble finding my way home. That last one was added a few years ago.

I may be boring at times. I hope I have never bored anyone to death. I hope that should it happen; I could do as the apostle Paul did when a young man fell asleep in one of his sermons. The problem was the man was sitting in a window and fell out and died. Fortunately for both the participants, Paul brought him back to life. I don’t think that is my gifting.

Remember the three things I use my phone for? The books I have downloaded on it have saved me from feeling my time is wasted. However, I do not use it to read when I am out to eat with someone. I also do not use it at home when others are around.

I believe reading when I have someone to talk to is not taking advantage of social situations. Those of you who know me may have commented that I will speak to a brick wall. That is not true. However, many people in lines and waiting rooms have learned not to start talking to me. I put my phone away for them.

Things that I may die from are too many political ads on radio, television, and now on the internet. Poorly prepared food at what used to be good restaurants. My own cooking. Natural causes are what I am hoping for. The bad driving habits of some of you. Especially those of you who think yellow and red look the same at traffic lights. I’ll give you a hint. Follow their example when people in the lanes next to you are slowing down.

Life is too short already. I do not need you to shorten it for those of us who do not have our heads up our rears. Two more things I just thought of that I won’t die from. Smoking and drinking. I might be taken out by secondhand smoke or drink, but not the direct effects.

©Copyright 2022 by Charles Kensinger