River Life Issue 3, Volume 9 | Page 10

 Dear Mills River United Methodist Church Family, Thank you for all the cards and prayers while my sister, cousin and I dealt with recent medical issues. We especially are grateful for the prayers. With Love and Appreciation, Gail Moore My dear, dear friends, There are no words to express the love and gratitude for all you have done. My family felt your love. All the heartfelt prayers, food, cards, calls, visits and donations helped to fill a part of the void in my heart. It gave me strength to go forward knowing how much you care for Tommy and our family. My heart still hurts and I miss him more than I can explain. I know many of you have also felt a loss of husband or wife – your soul mate. Mrs. Evelyn Frye told me once that God will give you a “peace that passes all understanding.” She was right. I just haven’t felt it yet. The special prayer service and the candlelight vigil - I just can’t explain how it touched my whole family. It was all so beautiful and special, but we are not a special family. I keep in my thoughts that God has something special in mind. I do believe that our great God always uses evil for good. Sometimes He doesn’t always reveal it. I think the candlelight vigil was not just for Tommy. It was the way the community of Mills River was saying evil will not win. The goodness of our God will prevail and His glory must be lifted up. This is the only way I can handle Tommy’s loss. It is not the evil man we hate, it is the evil that lives in him. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit may live in him for it is God’s will that no one perish. We have seen and heard many good things that God has already done – from salvation in a granddaughter to rededication in many lives. May God receive His glory! I’m sorry I can’t send out thank you cards to everyone. Food came in so fast and so much we couldn’t keep a record correct. So, I’m sending a love letter to my beautiful church family. You at MRUMC will always be my family. I could write 100 pages and still not be able to convey my love for all of you. Please continue to pray for me. I’m trying to keep my Father close, but sometimes He seems so far away. I cling to Romans 8:28. Love in Christ, Lynn Bryson  As blood drive coordinator, I would like to thank the volunteers, those who donated food and the blood donors. We collected thiry- nine units of blood. Without teamwork, we can’t succeed. Thank you again for your hard work and making our blood drive a success! -Donna Cannon