{"id":296,"date":"2009-06-05T17:00:33","date_gmt":"2009-06-06T01:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/averillnet.com\/?p=296"},"modified":"2009-06-06T08:30:58","modified_gmt":"2009-06-06T16:30:58","slug":"our-friend-david-62753-6309","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/averillnet.com\/?p=296","title":{"rendered":"Our Friend David (6\/27\/53 – 6\/3\/09)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"David

David Thorpe<\/p><\/div>\n

Our dear friend and brother in Christ, David Thorpe, went home to the Lord Wednesday morning, only a couple of weeks before his 56th birthday.\u00a0 He died unexpectedly when his heart suddenly failed him and, over the course of several hours, even the paddles didn\u2019t help.\u00a0
\nDavid was in our home group that meets regularly for fellowship and prayer and we worked together supporting the marriage ministry both in marriage classes and as marriage mentors.\u00a0 Though we had only known David (and Madaline) for a few years, it seems like much longer.\u00a0 We have discussed this phenomenon with them in the past – how we all feel like we’ve been friends for decades rather than just a few years.\u00a0 I suspect many people feel that way about them because they are so genuine.\u00a0 We know very few people without pretenses – those people are a joy to get to know and they challenge us to be bold in our walk.\u00a0 David was not a complicated man.\u00a0 He had a heart that reflected God\u2019s character.\u00a0 He loved Jesus.\u00a0 His humility, sincere love and selfless service to others were inspiring.\u00a0 David loved his beloved wife Madaline and precious adult daughters Noelle and Courtney.\u00a0 He adored his three grandchildren and had an especially sweet relationship with Jonathan because he lived nearby.\u00a0 We loved David\u2019s laughter and kind spirit.\u00a0 He will be deeply missed.
\nDavid and Madaline had an amazing testimony.\u00a0 During their 35 year marriage they encountered an unbelievable number of very painful trials, yet their faith in a sovereign God and their obedience was their focus \u2013 a compelling example and inspiration to others.\u00a0 Despite much opposition, David did not hold a grudge against anyone.\u00a0\u00a0 He merely wished that others would know he held no animosity or ill-will toward them.\u00a0 He wanted them to know the truth, but recognized that they were not likely to ever do so.
\nLife is precious.\u00a0 No matter how long we live, compared to eternity, it is short.\u00a0 We rejoice in the knowledge that David not only believed in the one true God of the Bible, but he walked the talk.\u00a0 His life was an example to many.\u00a0 Because he placed his trust in Christ, he truly is in a \u201cbetter\u201d place.\u00a0 Those of us that choose God\u2019s way will also share in the joy of being in the presence of God \u2013 rather than separated from Him \u2013 forever.\u00a0
\nOur hearts are heavy today because we have parted company with a very dear one, but we praise God for His provision and that David accepted God\u2019s gift of eternal life and lived with that blessed assurance.\u00a0 It is our heartfelt prayer that you too realize your need for God and choose life today!\u00a0 Tomorrow may be too late.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our dear friend and brother in Christ, David Thorpe, went home to the Lord Wednesday morning, only a couple of … Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/averillnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/averillnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/averillnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/averillnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/averillnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=296"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/averillnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":301,"href":"https:\/\/averillnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions\/301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/averillnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/averillnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/averillnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}