Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant

I have written several times here about my father-in-law, Rev. Asa Dorsey, who over the last 76 years has become a legendary figure in North Georgia. (See links to articles below). On December 23, as we were preparing to spend Christmas Day at his home with the family, Asa suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized. Over the course of the next several days it became apparent things would not go back to normal as he became weaker and weaker. He suffered at least two more small heart attacks in the hospital, further weakening his already frail heart.  

Those days visiting him in the hospital were precious times that we will treasure for the rest of our lives. It was an incredible gift from God that despite the weakness of his body, his keen mind and phenomenal memory were with him until his final breath. Just hours before he passed, he related to his nurse how in the late 1950s he named his mill after his newborn daughter, Fonda. He even remembered the name of the clerk of court he filed the papers with. 

On Friday morning, January 2 at about 10:30 am, Asa slipped away from this life and stepped into the presence of the Lord. 

It is hard to imagine life without him here. It is indeed true that you are never ever ready to let them go, even when they are 93 years old. We have caught ourselves on numerous occasions over the last two weeks picking up the phone to call, or briefly wondering whose weekend it is to be with him, before quickly being hit with the reality and the finality of the fact that he is gone. 

For the last 26 years, we have celebrated Asa's ministry on the first Sunday in January, the anniversary of the first sermon he preached in January 1933. When we began doing that it was on the occasion of his 50th anniversary, and we assumed we were honoring him at the end of his ministry and his life. Little did we know he still had one-third of his ministry still ahead of him. 

On the first Sunday in January, 2009, we gathered once again to celebrate Asa's life and ministry, but this time he was not in attendance. As in the years before, there were stories to be told, songs to be sung, and tributes to be given. There was love, laughter and tears. But this year was different because he is home. 

The first time I ever heard Asa preach, I remember he joked about how some people didn't think it was proper or dignified to shout. "Well, if you don't believe in shouting," he said in that booming, joyful voice of his, "when we get to heaven together, you might want to stay off of my cloud!" I thought of that story as I sat in the pew at the memorial service. The mental image of Asa shouting for joy in heaven brought a wide grin to my face and warmth to my heart. 

It has been said that God's gift to us is life, and what we do with it is our gift to him and to the world. God gave Asa Dorsey the gift of life in large measure - 93 years of it. The gift he gave back to God and to us was faithfulness. 

Have a great time in heaven, Asa. We'll see you there in the morning.

Related Posts: 

Happy 92nd, Asa Dorsey 
Honoring a Life Well Lived

Comments

[Anna Dorsey]

You're his son-in-law? I am his great grandaughter! He was a great man!! please email me!

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