Count Your Blessings

Last week, on the Sunday leading into the Thanksgiving holiday, I did something I haven’t done in years. I played my trombone and sang a solo at the church we attend. As you might imagine, it was a trip down memory lane.

As Loreen and I searched music books for something we had done before, we came across an old song called “Count Your Blessings.” The last verse, which I sang after playing the trombone, goes like this: So, amid the conflict, whether great or small – do not be discouraged, God is over all – Count your many blessings, angels will attend – help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Little did I know that angels were attending an old friend of mine at that very moment. I knew that he was ill. In fact, we would call it a “terminal” illness. However, the end came more quickly than I expected.

Lee Dice was a pastor senior to me. Together with other pastors in the state of Indiana, he asked me to initiate a new church in Indianapolis. We began the fall of 1965 with nothing more than a list of prospects. Sixteen churches supported us with prayer and gifts. Lee was the pastor of one of those churches, the church in Flora, Indiana.

Two years later, Lee left Flora to become the pastor of the Third Brethren Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The church we started in Indianapolis continued to grow. Since it was nearly ready to be self supporting, no longer needing support from the Indiana churches, I took the challenge of a new church in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Imagine my surprise and gratitude when Lee returned from Philadelphia to be the pastor of the Grace Brethren Church of Indianapolis.

The story isn’t over. In 1995, Lee became the Executive Secretary of the Association of Grace Brethren Ministers. Eight years later, he and the officers of the Association asked me to design a new structure that would deliver more encouragement and assistance to our members. In 2005, as that structure developed, Lee resigned from his role as Executive Secretary. I inherited some of his duties, and was later named the Ministry Director.

The crossing of our paths is not without significance. There is a personal God, and he is at work in our lives. I could not have designed and orchestrated the way Lee and I played tag with each other in our service for the Lord.

Lee reached the end of his journey only to begin another, one far more glorious. It began with Thanksgiving dinner in heaven. What a way to begin!

When I count my blessings, Lee Dice is among them.