Generations

This picture of my Mom and Mrs. Auffarth at the weekend's women's retreat honestly brings a tear to my eye because of the deep connections. I really feel a responsibility to tell the stories I remember of the generations before me. I was in a unique position being the son of my parents and being exposed to so many wonderful and godly people over the years from those older generations. 

The night of July 6, 1993, I was at home when we got the call that my brother Mark had been in an accident. They only told us he was in critical condition. It was 10:50 on a Tuesday and I had taken my last final exam that morning at University of Delaware to finish my degree. As I was scrambling to get out of the house, I called Melanie, and while on the phone, another call came through...it was Mrs. Auffarth's husband, Pastor Auffarth, who is now with the Lord. I can still hear and feel him comforting me in those few seconds...he already knew what I would find out later...that Mark had died (it still is crazy that he died) but yet he didn't tell me because he didn't know if I knew yet (that was great pastoral discernment on his part). But the words he did say were powerful and have stayed with me all these years. So after Melanie, Pastor Auffarth was the first person I spoke to after Mark had died. That will always be in my heart. 

There have been too many times since that night that I have been in the same position that Pastor Auffarth was in that night...I always think of him when I am. I remember being in the room the night that Ashley VanWingerden died and I looked at Melanie, both of us sobbing, and quietly whispered, "I can't do this anymore". It was then that I thought of men like Dr. Auffarth and my Dad, and their commitment to the Gospel, and to people, and that gave me the strength to be there, even while frail and broken, for my precious heart broken friends. 

I always will remember Pastor Auffarth's voice bellowing out in the sanctuary of Evangelical Presbyterian in Newark as he was the Senior Pastor there for many years. My Grandparents went there so I would attend EP every now and then as a child and I always enjoyed his preaching and approach. Little did I know that later on in life, he, and many others, would be the influences that have helped form my own preaching. 

Pastor Auffarth was encouraging to my Dad when he was in transition in ministry. Pastor Auffarth and a few other giants of the faith, and of our denomination, stood up for my Dad. My Dad still tells that story. Never miss a chance to vocally stand up for your friends. 

A few summers ago, I was sitting on the beach with my Grandfather, who is also now in Heaven, and he told me the story of when Pastor Auffarth was called to EP decades ago...apparently, there were some people behind the scenes working against him, so my Grandfather personally made sure other good people knew what was happening, and as a result, a Christ-centered man was the beloved Senior Pastor at EP for so many years. Perhaps that painful episode happened to him in part so I would be encouraged in my own calling, by my Grandfather, on the beach, decades later. You just can't connect all the dots until we get to Heaven as I don't think we have any clue how powerfully God works this side of Heaven. And years later, EP and Pastor Auffarth would plant Glasgow Church! What a great generation.