Some call it Fate, others call it luck, but I prefer to think that the Lord above led me in 1992 to my incredible wife Judy and that Judy led me to St. Andrew’s. In the bargain I gained a beautiful, loving wife, a church family, a church home, and a church community, for the rest of my life.
My story begins with the replacement of a small drawer in the cabinet used for storing linen in the sacristy. Judy had served on the Altar Guild for many years and when she asked me to take a look at a drawer that was missing, I gladly agreed. The drawer had been removed for repair some time earlier and never returned. Having some skills and a love for woodwork, I made the drawer and in the process of installing it realized that the entire cabinet needed to be painted and the drawer handles could be updated. It was then that I noticed that the wood behind each handle was deeply grooved and worn. I realized that the grooves were the result of thousands of openings and closing by the wonderful, dedicated ladies of the Altar Guild, including my sweet Judy. I pondered the countless hours of hard work over all those years by those amazing women. How the repetitive touch of those gentle, loving hands could literally wear away paint and wood; like the imperceptible wearing away of solid rock by the constant flow of a gentle stream. It was then that I realized that I had a calling, that I had been offered an opportunity to give back in some small measure for all that I had gained by being a part of the St. Andrew’s family.
Over the next twenty-eight years I have found extreme pleasure and satisfaction in building furniture, making repairs, painting and refinishing. I built the two pedestals on either side of the altar and oaks bases to raise the flower vases. I also built the healing stations and the pedestal used at baptisms. My good friend Carey Curtis and I built and installed the Tree of Life Memorial in the small side chapel. We noticed that two of the stained-glass windows were reversed and, amazingly, one of them had been installed upside down and had been that way forever.
I was on my knees one Christmas putting a fresh coat of varnish on the altar rail and the altar furniture. From that perfect posture I was able to listen to Brad Norris and two young men playing brass instruments practice for the Christmas Eve service. The sound was so wonderful and so powerful that I recorded it with my cell phone looking up at the altar and gradually raising the camera to the stained-glass window. I was blessed to be at the right place at the right time and on my knees to boot. Over the course of the years there were projects large and small and too numerous to mention. All it took was a phone call from Rachel Roby, Bill Wilds or anyone of the many people serving the church and the Lord in their own way and who needed something fixed or replaced.
I mention these things not for myself, but rather, to illustrate the gift of giving something of yourself back to those you love and cherish. We all have different skills, interests and abilities. It is the combination of those things into a unified team effort that moves us forward as a church. Together we can move mountains, one stone at a time. I thank my darling Judy and the Lord above for giving me the opportunity to play a small part in making St. Andrew’s the family home that it is.
Greg Edwards
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