Carl Wardlow is not gone...

He has just gone on ahead. Carl passed early this morning in the Veterans Hospital in Tampa. He contracted a blood infection that proved too much for a man in his physical condition to handle. MRSA they call it. It is a major hospital concern because decades ago, a strain of staph emerged that was resistant to broad-spectrum antibiotics. MRSA infections kill hundreds of thousands of patients in hospitals every year.
Carl had diabetes and injured his foot. The staph infection got hold. He also had heart issues and the infection ran wild in his system. It just proved too much for this kind and gentle man.
"God is in control", I tell myself. I stopped wondering a long time ago why God brings us home in so many debilitating ways.
It is enough for me that He brings us home.
I met Carl almost three years ago when we joined Haven Baptist Church. I loved his heart. He used to be in charge of maintenance for the ministry until his physical condition became such that he had to quit that official role. He was retired from an electricians job in a large plant in Ohio. Carl served our nation in the United States Air Force.
I visited him in the hospital those last few weeks, and he really felt that he would get better because he needed to talk to his brother in-law. "He is a great guy", he said.
He wanted to share the Gospel with him. - Someone else will have to take up that task now.
Thanks Carl, for your spirit and your friendship. Thanks for the great talks and the encouragement you were to me personally.
I look forward to seeing you again.