Leadership Thought: A Conversation with a Friend Who Taught Me a Valuable Lesson in Caring for Others

Dear Friends,

Last night I called a friend on his birthday.  At 82, despite some very significant health issues, my friend Armando is still pastoring and ministering in north Florida. He is an assistant pastor in a small church where he serves a Spanish/Anglo speaking congregation.

My brother Armando is a man of prayer, and one of the ways he continues to minister to others is by praying for people who have lost loved ones. He shared with me how he keeps a calendar book in which he records the names of people he knows, and the dates their loved one have passed away. Each day he opens that book and takes time to pray for the loved ones who suffered loss on that specific day. 

He then reminded me of how he had prayed for me and my family on the date Jean died and how he had prayed for my daughter Sarah on the day her husband Jeff had passed away just last year.

While I try and communicate with the members of our church on their birthdays, I never thought of recording the dates on which friends of mine had lost loved ones.

While I have a friend I call every year on November 11th, the day his daughter was killed in a tragic robbery,  I never thought of remembering and recording  significant dates that other friends had experienced loss, and today I am determined to begin.

By praying, making a phone call, writing a letter or paying a personal visit, we can perform a significant ministry of love and encouragement as we remind others that we are thinking and praying for them.

Thanks, Armando, for revealing to me and to those reading this message of such a significant way of remembering and caring for others.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom