Another Soldier's Coming Home

On December 27, 2011, Buddy Angell's name was called, and he went to be with the Savior he loved above all else. The Lord changed him in the winter of his life and gave him an uncontrollable passion to share the gospel and use what he had been given to minister to others. Uncle Buddy had a sense of humor that bordered on cheesy. He was the grandfather figure I've desperately wanted to have nearby, always ready with a hug, kiss, and encouraging word. He loved with all he had, and his mercy smoothed his gruffness. He believed in second chances because the Lord had given him a second chance. He lived what it meant to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Yesterday, Uncle Buddy closed his eyes for the last time and opened them in the presence of Jesus. This morning, I woke up to a planet where he is no longer in pain and no longer a phone call away. He's cancer free and walking with his Savior.

  © Carrie Underwood

Two weeks ago, we were told his cancer had spread and that he only had months to a year if treated with chemo. Monday, we were told the cancer had spread through his whole body, and he only had a week.

I thought I would say one more goodbye, maybe sit in his hospital room and read to him while he rested. I would tell him how much I loved him, how much he meant to me, how his relationship with the Lord made me want to be like him. I would read those goofy chain emails that he loved to pass on just to make him smile. But with one phone call, he was gone.

Cancer is no respecter of person, age, character, or circumstance. It fails to distinguish between the good and the evil. It cannot be conquered with all the money in the world. No doctor can eliminate its reality. But my God knew Uncle Buddy's days. He knew that when I said goodbye Thursday morning before his surgery, it would be the last time I would see him on this earth.

It breaks my heart that he was in pain, but I know he is walking golden streets pain-free with Jesus. My life is richer for having known him, and I can only pray that this will be said of me when the Lord calls my name. Uncle Buddy fought the good fight, he finished the race, and at the finish line, the Lord called another faithful soldier home.

For those who are in Christ, death is never goodbye because Christ conquered death and the grave. It is merely a brief separation. We love and miss you, Uncle Buddy. See you soon.

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." Philippians 3:20-22

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21