Missing My Awesome Friend Tammy

Hey Friends,

Welcome to another Saturday post with Odie. I hope you are doing good. I am doing well. Thankfully my sleep seems more normal, that is an answer to prayer! I have been really sleeping extremely deep the last few days. I think my body is trying to catch up on all the sleep that I lost due to Covid. 

I want to take a moment to say thank you. Many of you continue to check on us. We appreciate all your prayers and concern for our family! Thank you for praying and believing with us that Dad will recover completely. Your prayers have helped us survive the almost 16 weeks of this crazy journey! God is in control.

Missing My Awesome Friend, Tammy

Sometimes I find myself thinking about precious people that God has allowed to be in our lives. It is so hard to wrap my mind around the fact that many of them are gone! I find comfort in the fact that I will see my loved ones again when I get home.

Today I wanted to focus on one very special lady, Sis. Tammy Ferguson. I miss my awesome friend! Tammy was an incredible person. I truly believe God connected us. She was an encourager. She carried a burden and prayed for me, I know her prayers were key in helping me get through a rough spot in my life.

My sweet friend was a faithful blog reader and often left us comments. I miss her comments or commentary. Most of the time she knew our schedule better than I knew it.

We talked almost every day. Her laughter, smile and encouragement brightened the world. We had about eight years of friendship. I will forever cherish our bond. I am so thankful that I had the privilege to call her my friend! 

She lived in Hanford, California and attended Riverdale Assembly. We did not get to be together very often so we tried to take advantage of every time that we could catch up. 

This picture was taken during Riverdale Assembly's 50th Anniversary week. We did not plan to match. This is one of my favorite pictures of us together.

God, unexpectantly, called Tammy home on May 16th 2016. I will never forget the moment that I received the tragic news. Five years have now passed and I still miss her immensely! I still long to hear her voice on the phone. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about Tammy.

Reminiscing

Five years ago we were in the middle of City Reach. May found us in Atwater, California. Atwater was less than 2 hours from where Tammy lived and worked. She came and spent Friday and Saturday with me. We had the best afternoon catching up and enjoying Starbucks together. 

She also was in service with us under the blue and white gospel tent. We had a wonderful service. I remember Tammy was so excited to experience a City Reach service and help us set up and tear down.

Tammy's last weekend on earth was special. I am so grateful that I was able to spend most of  Friday and Saturday with her. We had planned that weekend for a while and we had a blast. 

Saturday was a girl's day. Tammy and I were joined by our friends, Shea and Emily. We had so much fun! The day consisted of shopping, laughing a ton, eating yummy food and more Starbucks. Here are a couple pictures from our girl's day.

We capped off Saturday with an amazing service under the tent. The Lord moved powerfully! His presence that night was truly life changing.

Then it was time for Tammy to head home. We begged her to stay with us another day. She was committed to being home for the Sunday services with her church family at Riverdale Assembly. We sadly told our precious friend goodbye. Her parting words to me were, "I am not saying goodbye, but I am saying see you later". We both thought that our paths would cross in Oklahoma next. This was our last picture before she hit the road.

I treasure those words from my friend, Tammy and our weekend together! Those couple of days were a special gift from God!

On Sunday I got a couple texts from her and a voicemail. I know she had a wonderful day with her church family. It seems like it was a "perfect" final day. Monday morning never came for Tammy. It appears that she went to sleep Sunday night and woke up in eternity.

Tribute Quartet recently revived an old song written by Squire Parsons. It is titled I Call It Home. It is Tribute's current radio song and I am hearing it multiple times a day on the radio. I think the guys do a great job singing this song! Click here for Tribute's official video. This video also includes an interview with Squire Parsons. The song begins at the 4:12 mark. 

This song has encouraged me recently. Our love of southern gospel music was something Tammy and I had in common. We were constantly sending songs back and forth. I know Tammy would have been enjoying Tribute's version of this song too. 

I get excited when I think of my Heavenly home. One day very soon it will no longer be a dream for the Saints of God. Heaven will be home! I am ready to see Tammy again. I am anticipating the day that we will be home together.

Thanks for reading as I shared my heart. I will see you all next Saturday.

Odie