Sad News.

Elinor McNutt passed away Thursday (September 20th, 2007). Elinor is the wife of Earl McNutt, my former pastor at Stone Church. and ongoing mentor. Brigitte and I were on staff with them in the mid-eighties and early nineties. Those were definitely good days.

Although Elinor had been ill, the seriousness and aggressiveness of this last bout of sickness surprised me. A couple of years ago she had had an operation to remove cancerous tissue from her bowel. That operation was quite successful. I saw her in apparent good health only a couple of months ago. But recently she had been suffering some relapse. She had been in Markham/Stouffville hospital for the past few weeks in significant pain not only from the cancer but also from a blood clot in her leg. Pastor Earl is feeling the loss deeply. Please pray for him during these tough days.

Brigitte and I had the chance to see her last week and thought she was doing well even though she was in obvious pain. We were surprised that she had passed on so quickly.

This does bring up a few issues for me. Earl and Elinor were probably my "ministry parents" - the ones who helped me make it through those first awkward years of pastoring. Earl is the same age as my father. Elinor's funeral is on the anniversary of my mother's death. They attended my mother's funeral in Guelph. This time is stirring up a number of memories for me. It is a nostalgic bittersweet time for me and as a result i don't think I am always fully engaging emotionally in all the events that are happening around me.

It is strange how seemingly unrelated events trigger memories.