"The Little Giant"

Tony was one of the shorter guys at church... but only in a physical sense. But because of his contagious laugh, his powerful love for one another and the influence that he had in the lives of those around him, Tony was and will always be a giant in our church. Tony set the example of what it means to serve the church with the gifts that God has given you and not only did he do it, he did it well. Tony did not believe in the old saying "that's good enough for government work". No way. He was doing it for God and so it had to be just right.

Regardless where you were, you were likely to hear Tony say something that would crack you up and I mean regardless where you were. In church or a graduation service or a movie at the cinema or wherever else you can name. And his voice and that country accent of his would get so wound up, you couldn't help but laugh... and we loved it. And yet, as wacky as he was, and I use that word lovingly, I will never forget the many times that I would see him in church when God was moving in his heart and those great big tears would start to flow. He would ask me questions like "Why can't people see how important this is?" and you could see how much he cared about us all.

Tony Sidebottom shockingly passed away this past Saturday. Nobody expected this was coming but I keep reminding myself and others that God is in control. He is never taken by surprise. Nothing ever keeps Him from accomplishing His will. And as we tell God "We still want him with us", God is telling us "Now Tony gets to be here with Me." So we do not cry tears of hopelessness. The more you hurt when a person passes away, the more it shows how much you loved that person. And Tony, we definitely love you.

So, Lord, we thank you for giving us so many wonderful years with Tony in our lives. There is no doubt that we have been influenced by him in so many ways.

Since Tony was so skilled at building houses (and everything else), I want to share these verses with you before I close this post. Matthew 7:24–25 (ESV) — 24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.