I met Calvin in February 2019. We became fast friends right away. Calvin was always thinking of others even during the darkest hours of his illness.
Calvin had a prayer list...a written list he consulted and used every night before he went to sleep. Calvin told me his prayers took at least 15 minutes every evening. I was on that list, and there's a good chance that someone reading this right now was on that list...for certain if Calvin told you he was praying for you. During our time together, I told Calvin about two of my friends who were having problems. The first time this happened, Calvin made it clear that he was counting on me to tell that person he was praying for him. A few days later and before my next visit with Calvin, he texted me: "Did you tell so-and-so I'm praying for him?" That defines Calvin.
Our friend Calvin is the most courageous, fearless, and faithful man I've ever known. His faith was genuine and pure; his fearlessness was nurtured and cultivated in that steadfast faith. He believed in miracles as I do, and we prayed together for his healing. Calvin and I agreed that people who don't expect or believe in miracles are really missing out...simply because they won't recognize a miracle when and if it happens. Be assured that Calvin's faith did not diminished as his illness grew more severe...it grew stronger.
Shortly before the Apostle Paul was martyred in Rome, he wrote one of his last epistles from prison to his friend Timothy. Second Timothy gives us a wonderful picture of Paul: brave, relentless in his faith, and always thinking about, encouraging, and praying for the ones he loved. Paul told Timothy:
"...the time for my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4: 6-7)
Calvin was also a fighter; he always finished what he started and did what he said he would do; and he was faithful to the moment he took his last breath and awakened in his new home in heaven.
