Soccer coach remembers ‘The Voice of Avery County’
Jamie Shell / (jamie.shell@averyjournal.com)
Tom Evaul, Avery High School teacher, soccer coach and friend
of Jim Greene who attends Minneapolis Christian Church where Greene served as pastor, shared
thoughts and reflections in the following letter regarding what Greene meant to the community and
the legacy he leaves behind.
“We will miss Jim Greene. There are very few people in this county and surrounding counties that he didn’t interact with in one form or another. On countless occasions, Jim preached about heaven and life after death. If you are a true believer in the word of God, then you can and should rejoice that Jim has left this temporary life for an eternal life with his heavenly father.
“This past Sunday in church we sang the hymn ‘Make Me a Blessing.’ God made Jim a blessing in so many different ways to so many different people, and Jim didn’t hesitate to share his belief in God with everybody.
“There will never be another Jim Greene, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be other people in this county that can step up and continue the work Jim did for this county. When one door closes, God opens other doors. He provides other ‘blessings,’ and God will provide the opportunities for others to step up and continue the work that Jim did. Are you going to be one of those ‘blessings?’
“Sometimes God will put a little jolt in our world in order to keep us from becoming complacent or too comfortable with the routines we sometimes get into. God did that with the Israelites while they wandered in the wilderness. They became comfortable and relied on God through Moses for all their needs. When it came time for them to enter the Promised Land, God didn’t allow Moses to lead the people into there. He didn’t leave His people leaderless nor helpless, however, but provided His people with Joshua (who, by the way, felt unworthy but did what God asked him to do by trusting that God’s promises to His people would be carried out).
“God is constantly doing that in our lives, challenging us or testing us to see what we do with the opportunities He provides. Some of those challenges aren’t always what we want them to be, and sometimes we fail to take advantage of the opportunities that God makes available to us. But that is what God is doing now. He is challenging the people of this community not to try to be Jim Greene, but to take up where Jim’s ministries left off.
“Jim cared deeply about the people of this community. He made it his life’s work to minister to the people of this community in many ways. The last thing Jim would want is for his different ministries to stop because he is not here anymore to see to them.
“God took Jim from us quickly and unexpectedly. When I first heard of Jim’s passing, I was speechless and in disbelief. ‘This couldn’t happen! Not now,’ I thought. I was looking forward to seeing Jim and being ministered by him in church on Sunday. We never know when our time’s up.
“Those of us left behind are just not prepared for the emptiness and loss. I’m reminded of a song by Garth Brooks entitled ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes.’ That concept is always in the back of my head. I tell my students that everyday when they leave their homes to come to school, they should hug their parents and tell them they love them, because the day may come when they don’t return home, or they return home and mom or dad aren’t there anymore.
“Don’t leave home without letting your loved ones know how you feel. Don’t leave home or go to bed angry or hurt with a loved one, because you never know when the time will come when they won’t be around anymore. It’s painful enough to lose a loved one, but it is even more painful to lose a loved one and not have told them or showed them that you love them and care about them.
“We don’t always see eye to eye with each other. After all, we are humans, and selfish for the most part. But don’t ever let your differences overshadow the love that you have for your friends and loved ones.
“I am so grateful to God for allowing Jim to be a part of my life. I will miss him dearly. I regret that I went four days without calling him and checking up on him, but there is nothing I can do to go back and change that. I just have to make sure it doesn’t happen again with my other loved ones. I will miss you, Jim. You were a good friend and brother in Christ.
“I rejoice that you are now with your heavenly father and many of those that passed before you. I rejoice that you are no longer in pain or troubled by the things of this world. I rejoice because like with my dad, I know I will continue to feel your presence in my life, just in a different way than what I have become accustomed to.
“I pray that your ministries will not end, but that God will provide us with somebody or somebodies that will look to God for the opportunity to continue to bless the many people you blessed in your short life here on earth. I know the day will come (some day, I don’t know when) when I will get to see you and talk to you again. I won’t say ‘goodbye,’ but rather, ‘I will see you later.’ Thank you for the ‘blessing’ you were to me.”
“We will miss Jim Greene. There are very few people in this county and surrounding counties that he didn’t interact with in one form or another. On countless occasions, Jim preached about heaven and life after death. If you are a true believer in the word of God, then you can and should rejoice that Jim has left this temporary life for an eternal life with his heavenly father.
“This past Sunday in church we sang the hymn ‘Make Me a Blessing.’ God made Jim a blessing in so many different ways to so many different people, and Jim didn’t hesitate to share his belief in God with everybody.
“There will never be another Jim Greene, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be other people in this county that can step up and continue the work Jim did for this county. When one door closes, God opens other doors. He provides other ‘blessings,’ and God will provide the opportunities for others to step up and continue the work that Jim did. Are you going to be one of those ‘blessings?’
“Sometimes God will put a little jolt in our world in order to keep us from becoming complacent or too comfortable with the routines we sometimes get into. God did that with the Israelites while they wandered in the wilderness. They became comfortable and relied on God through Moses for all their needs. When it came time for them to enter the Promised Land, God didn’t allow Moses to lead the people into there. He didn’t leave His people leaderless nor helpless, however, but provided His people with Joshua (who, by the way, felt unworthy but did what God asked him to do by trusting that God’s promises to His people would be carried out).
“God is constantly doing that in our lives, challenging us or testing us to see what we do with the opportunities He provides. Some of those challenges aren’t always what we want them to be, and sometimes we fail to take advantage of the opportunities that God makes available to us. But that is what God is doing now. He is challenging the people of this community not to try to be Jim Greene, but to take up where Jim’s ministries left off.
“Jim cared deeply about the people of this community. He made it his life’s work to minister to the people of this community in many ways. The last thing Jim would want is for his different ministries to stop because he is not here anymore to see to them.
“God took Jim from us quickly and unexpectedly. When I first heard of Jim’s passing, I was speechless and in disbelief. ‘This couldn’t happen! Not now,’ I thought. I was looking forward to seeing Jim and being ministered by him in church on Sunday. We never know when our time’s up.
“Those of us left behind are just not prepared for the emptiness and loss. I’m reminded of a song by Garth Brooks entitled ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes.’ That concept is always in the back of my head. I tell my students that everyday when they leave their homes to come to school, they should hug their parents and tell them they love them, because the day may come when they don’t return home, or they return home and mom or dad aren’t there anymore.
“Don’t leave home without letting your loved ones know how you feel. Don’t leave home or go to bed angry or hurt with a loved one, because you never know when the time will come when they won’t be around anymore. It’s painful enough to lose a loved one, but it is even more painful to lose a loved one and not have told them or showed them that you love them and care about them.
“We don’t always see eye to eye with each other. After all, we are humans, and selfish for the most part. But don’t ever let your differences overshadow the love that you have for your friends and loved ones.
“I am so grateful to God for allowing Jim to be a part of my life. I will miss him dearly. I regret that I went four days without calling him and checking up on him, but there is nothing I can do to go back and change that. I just have to make sure it doesn’t happen again with my other loved ones. I will miss you, Jim. You were a good friend and brother in Christ.
“I rejoice that you are now with your heavenly father and many of those that passed before you. I rejoice that you are no longer in pain or troubled by the things of this world. I rejoice because like with my dad, I know I will continue to feel your presence in my life, just in a different way than what I have become accustomed to.
“I pray that your ministries will not end, but that God will provide us with somebody or somebodies that will look to God for the opportunity to continue to bless the many people you blessed in your short life here on earth. I know the day will come (some day, I don’t know when) when I will get to see you and talk to you again. I won’t say ‘goodbye,’ but rather, ‘I will see you later.’ Thank you for the ‘blessing’ you were to me.”