One amazing email.

I received a copy of an email the chairman of deacons at HBC sent out to his employees, and I want to share it with you. I talked with James and have his permission to post it. I know you will be blessed as you read it, and I pray it encourages you to share you faith with those around you in any way possible. Blessing.

Hi All,

Of all the emails I have ever written in my lifetime I do not believe there is one any more significant than this one. I would ask each supervisor to print this off and give it to any employee that is not on our company email distribution list. If you want to share this email with others, that would  be fine. God has stirred my heart for some time about writing this email and while it may not be politically correct in today’s view point of some, I feel it is more important to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit and follow Matthew 28:19 than to worry that I may offend someone. I know many of you have already made the decision to determine your final destination. I am not here to force you to believe what I write about nor judge you if you do not agree with my view point as what you choose to believe does not affect your employment here. I merely care enough about you that when I stand in front of my Maker, I will stand accountable to have reached out to those within my circle of influence to offer you what I believe to be true according to the Bible’s instruction in which 2 Timothy 3:16 states “all Scripture is inspired by God”. I write to you today not as a businessman but as a fellow member of the human race with a heart to impact the people I come in contact with and  to hopefully help steer you to consider one of the most important questions of a lifetime. If you are not one of those who has already made a decision on your final destination, I ask you to ask yourself, where will I spend eternity?

Jack Williams, as most of you know, is not only a business partner with me, Randy, and Brian in our Hickory office, but is someone who I have known and most importantly consider my friend for nearly 30 years. Some of you outside of our Hickory operation may not know Jack and may never have seen him. I have attached a recent picture of Jack so you will know about the man I speak of. Jack has been in the garage door industry for nearly 40 years, starting out with Carolina Door Specialties, then working at Industrial Door Sales where I first met him. In the mid eighties he started his own business, Williams Door Service in Hickory and ran it very successfully until we purchased WDS from him in 1999 and ultimately changed it to Overhead Door Company of the Foothills. Jack shortly thereafter bought back in with Randy and me to become a shareholder along with his son-in-law, Brian Stevison, and they have operated it ever since; they have become one of our successful and profitable business units.

Jack and Donna have three children, April, Kim and Allan along with three grandchildren. Jack has not only invested his life in the door business but has been a dedicated husband, father, and grandfather. Jack lives his life to make a positive lasting impression on all he comes in contact with. Jack has lived out 1 Timothy 6:12. He has fought the good fight. Jack’s desire  has been to steer each person he comes in contact with to the cross where Jesus paid the price for your sins and mine……. if we ask Him. 

Sherry and I visited with Jack and his wife Donna last week and I asked his permission to use his life as an example in this email. That visit could very well have been the last time we ever get to see Jack alive on this side of eternity. Jack has had cancer for some time now and he has known that God has chosen him for this difficult journey and his destiny with the end of life on this earth is drawing to a close. Psalm 116:15 tells us that “ Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones. Jack’s attitude in dealing with his circumstances have been an inspiration to me and many others..  I had considered writing this with the announcement of Jack’s passing, but I thought there would be a greater peace for Jack and his family to be able to know beforehand  to a greater degree that his life experiences and impending death can hopefully have an impact on the associates he has worked with over all of these years, whether you know him or not. One of the greatest comforts and peace his family will have after he passes is the fact of knowing Jack will be in Heaven and as believers in Jesus Christ they will be able to see him again. Sure they will grieve at his passing but think of the tragedy and anguish for a family to not have that peace and comfort about a loved one who passes on. You see, Jack Williams came into this world just like each one of us. He was born as a sinner. Jack did not live a perfect life. As a matter of fact he has told me that for a numbers of years well into his adult life he lived a life that many of us would define as a rough and wild life. He did things that were not very good and took part in a lot of the things that this world offers as “pleasure.” He lived the way he wanted and it was not down a very straight and narrow path. Along this journey of life, he came to a point of realizing the pleasures this world had to offer were hollow and very temporary. There must be more to life than enjoying the next party and living for the moment. Jack came to know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. He asked Jesus to forgive him of his sins, by faith he believed that Jesus was crucified, died and was raised from the dead after three days and invited him into his heart. It was just that simple, as John 3:16 states. Did he live a perfect life from that point on? No, but God’s grace forgave him not only of all of his past sins, but any present and future sins as well. That’s real grace!

We all are created from the moment of conception to be an eternal being. Whatever time we are given here on earth, whether that is still in the womb, a few years, a few decades, or living to a ripe old age, according to James 4:14, life is just a vapor. How many of you know a child or teenager that has died at an early age? We will all spend eternity in either heaven or hell. You don’t have to believe that, but how can you afford to be wrong? Being born as a sinner, we are all condemned to an eternity in hell. It is only through the process of asking Jesus to forgive our sins and trust in  Him that we have the choice to change that destination to heaven. You can be a good person your whole life, but without having made that choice by the age of accountability of following Christ’s plan of salvation, the Bible tells us that we will spend eternity in hell. In spite of what our culture says and all it has to offer, the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life in heaven.

Jack Williams made that choice and has lived his life looking through the lens of eternity. He still made mistakes just as all of us who make that choice do. We are not capable of living a perfect life even after that decision. The difference is that we are forgiven.

I ask you today to take some time and examine your own life. What kind of legacy will you leave behind? What values are you instilling in your children? What kind of steward are you of the resources God has entrusted to you and how are you investing a significant portion back into the kingdom of God? What will people say about you at your funeral? I find it rather interesting that in a final funeral service that might last 30-45 minutes, you get a snapshot of what a person’s whole life stood for. More importantly, it makes you wonder what might be said when you stand in front of your Maker -- what will He say about what you did with the short period of time He gave you in this life? The decision you make or refuse to make to the question I have asked is the most important decision you will ever make. With this brief moment of time you have been allotted on this side of eternity you will determine where you will spend eternity. How can you afford to make the wrong decision just to live a few years partaking of what the great deceiver tries to lead you to believe. If you died today your family and friends will grieve also. Would your family have the peace and comfort Jack Williams family has?

I realize this is a pretty deep email to receive at work. If I offended you, I’m sorry but I love you enough to tell you the truth. If you have questions or want to discuss, feel free to call me on my cell phone or send me an email. As you know deer season starts Saturday and I get kind of scarce around the office this time of year, but I will make the time to come visit with you or talk to you on the phone if you would like to know more. Some things are more important than deer season.

We were created by God to worship Him. It’s about Him and not about us. It should be our goal to live our life for the time we have left looking at it through the lens of eternity. Think about it! 

If you would like to send a card or note to Jack his address is P.O. Box 2071 Hickory, NC  28603.

God Bless,

James