A few weeks ago, I attended a memorial service for a special friend who left lasting footprints without knowing this was what he was doing. We all leave footprints! George R. Joseph was born on November 13, 1956. He grew up in a home behind the church that I have attended since 1972. His first encounter with the church was when he was about 10. The youth pastor at the time took a liking to him and befriended George. George soon learned far more about the church property than any attendee dreamed! He was full of adventure, and the rafters of the church knew it!
George, however, did not engage a great deal with the church message. Sadly, he chose another direction. In his teens, he got into drugs and then into dealing drugs in the city. For years, his focus was far from any spiritual encounter with faith. He had his plan and was working his plan.
However, several church peers never gave up on George. They continued to show love toward him. In the mid-1990s, after years of sin and darkness, George accepted an invitation to play baseball with the church team. He discovered these strange religious people were not as strange as he thought they were. Casual relational activities led him to ask questions about faith and search for answers. A God-shaped hole in his heart needed to be filled. He knew his life was a mess. George did not like what he had become.
An afternoon that changed his life!
This eventually led to a one-on-one meeting one afternoon with the pastor in his office. That afternoon, George was introduced to a personal relationship with Jesus. He had seen that religion was man’s attempt to find God. He learned through his conversation that Christianity was God reaching out to redeem man. As George began understanding what it meant to know Jesus personally, he changed his direction. He met Jesus, and his life made a sharp right turn from darkness and sin to light and faithfulness. He was forever changed. Jesus perfectly filled that God-shaped hole in his heart.
During his “dark days”, George’s “day job” was in construction. He knew how to fix about anything broken. As he grew spiritually, the pastor asked George to serve as the custodian and maintenance manager for the church property. George devoted the next 20-plus years to this task. Every church inch of the property was in good hands. George was the “go-to” guy for anything related to the property—he literally knew every inch of the campus.
But in the process, he fell in love with the youth. He became Papa, Uncle, Older Brother, Grandpa, Old Man, and even Godfather. His life focused on hundreds of youth, and his goal was to repair broken lives and clean up lost kids.
More than a maintenance man
After 20-plus years, he had to give up his beloved maintenance job because of health struggles with Parkinson’s and then lung cancer. He continued to love the hurting. His sister said of George: “I fully believe God gave George a “Heart of Gold Dust” to be scattered from youngin’ to youngin’, to friend or foe, from family to stranger, to show us all how to be more like Jesus.”
At his Celebration of Life, the worship center was packed with individuals who were influenced by George and his spirit of generous giving. Many are transformed adults today because George took the time to love them as Jesus did. Their lives were forever changed because a drug dealer found Jesus and then gave himself away to help kids of all ages find Jesus. George exemplified the principles of intentional living and giving.
Bags of candy
One of George’s favorite events each year was an annual Halloween Alternative on October 31. He always made sure the parking lot of the church was transformed for the evening, where kids could safely play games, visit cars decorated in some theme of the evening, get candy at every stop, eat a hot dog, and hear about Jesus. Each event attracted over 1000 unchurched community visitors. At his Celebration of Life, attendees were asked to bring a bag of candy in honor of George. There were hundreds of bags given—and a few weeks later, the neighborhood kids once again got their gift from George. This was typical George—always finding a way to connect so that kids would find a pathway to knowing Jesus.
What do the footprints you are leaving behind look like?
What are you doing today to complete your legacy? What will others say about you after you are gone? Are you intentional in living and giving?
