Heavy Heart

We are on our way home from spending time with David and Linda in North Carolina, so I'm sitting in our hotel room writing. My heart is heavy with sadness. We received a phone call that once again changed "life" for the Elms Family. My husband's brother, Royce suddenly passed away Saturday evening. We are all reeling from the shock of losing such a great brother, friend, encourager, and preacher of the gospel!

Many friends have called or texted this evening. You have brought strength to our hearts. We know God is in control and we totally trust Him. Thank you for your continued prayers for the family. We appreciate you and love you more than you know!

My Brother, My Friend

Seven years ago today Keith, my brother was taken from this life. (picture is Keith and his wife Ginger) Never did I ever dream I would be left here without him. I will never forget the day Wendell rushed him to the hospital, only to find out very quickly he would have to undergo heart surgery. I always thought he would pull out of it, but he died 5 days later and my world started shaking. I knew that God doesn't put more on us than we can bear, so I placed it all in His hands and He gave me peace in the midst of loss. Keith was a great brother! Everyone loved him and as Chad (Karla's son) said one day when he saw Keith coming to my door..."Here comes Uncle Keith with all the laughs!" Yes, he was known for bringing a lot of laughter when he was around. He also had an incredible voice! No matter what style of song you gave him to sing, he sang it well. My favorite style for him to sing was always "country style". No one could put the country in the song like Keith could. When we were in a church service and began singing we always had fun. One day we were sitting together, (which was a mistake) and song service began. When they gave the page number in the songbook Keith and I decided we were going to sing the songs exactly the way they were written. You have to understand that as Pentecostals we give songs our own "twist" and sing it the way we want to, but that day, we wanted to sing them "right". That was a BIG mistake! LOL! We started singing and listening to the difference of how they were SUPPOSE to be sung and how the congregation was actually singing them, and we got tickled! I'll never forget laughing so hard that we were almost hysterical. We never let it go quite that far, because if Daddy would have "caught us" we would have been called out for sure! That was one thing you didn't want to happen! I can hear his booming voice right now as he would call our names out and say, "Keith.....Linda.....GO SIT BY YOUR MOTHER!" That wouldn't be the end of it either. We would have "gotten it" when we got home and would never do "that" again!! That is just one little story in my life, with my brother. Oh how I miss him. He would be so proud of his grandkids today! If he were here you would think no one else had any grandkids but him. LOL! Brag...brag.....brag.....! If you think I brag about mine...well....we'll just leave it at that. :) I wish I could tell him about my FOUR granddaughters. He would think they were beautiful, and so cute, and he would be RIGHT! LOL! I hope I haven't bored you with a little memory about my brother. I just felt like writing. Keith, I miss you, Wendell misses you, Jonathan and Andrew, Ronda and Karla, and all the family and thousands of friends. They still talk about you and the memories they have of you. I love you and will meet you again in the "sweet by and by". We will laugh, and sing, and talk, and laugh, and sing, and talk some more when we all gather around the throne. When the saints begin to sing I want to be standing right next to you. I get excited thinking about it!