From the October 2022 Grace Notes:
Stewardship stories are monthly human-interest pieces about how God through Grace Lutheran Church has made a difference in people’s lives. What difference Grace has and is making in our life is an expression (since we are his disciples) …an expression of what difference Jesus makes in our life. This month’s spotlight is upon Freddy Drake.
Freddy’s birthday was just over a week ago, and I hope he got something sweet because I know a sweet tooth is something he and I have in common. Freddy is a member of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church where he has made a difference in welcoming and greeting people as an usher. At Grace Lutheran, Church Freddy is a big part of the reason the food pantry has been able to serve so many people so well. Freddy has held down the fort on everything in the west end of the food pantry, and when he is all caught up there, he looks for other ways to keep the church clean and in good order; not bad for a guy who knows another church to be home. For the last seven or eight years, Freddy has taken the bus to be here every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, to serve with all of the volunteers of the food pantry, and to serve all the clients who depend upon their work and his.
Before leaving every day, Freddy checks in to let us know that he will be back the next day. Of course, he would, because there is no one more dependable. Making sure that we knew that he was coming back in and of itself was enough to bring a smile to our faces. Who knew the power of that intentional checking out every day? This summer Freddy became sick and has not been able to come back, for it is now he who needs to be served. He was served by the health care workers at the hospital, and now in the loving care he receives from his family. They share that he is grateful for the comfort care he receives and that he is in good spirits (just as I found him in the hospital), and he is still giving them a good laugh here and there. Freddy has told me repeatedly how much he misses being here at Grace Lutheran Church, with the people he worked with and for. Stewardship stories are monthly human-interest pieces about how God through Grace Lutheran Church has made a difference in peoples’ lives. Freddy’s story is just as much a story of how one man has made such a difference in the community of and through Grace Lutheran Church as it is about the difference the church has made in his life, and that is why we miss him so much, too.
*Freddy sadly passed away in late October. A video of his memorial service at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church can be found here.