I Saw Jesus in You - October 11, 2018
I Saw Jesus in You - Ron Hamilton lifetime achievement award ceremony- Oct 11, 2018
As I mentioned in an earlier post, in 2017 Ron Hamilton wrote on their Majesty Music website that he had been diagnosed with FTD (Fronto temperal dementia- early onset). Shelly thinks it started back in 2011 when Ron turned 61.
Ron went to school at BJU (Bob Jones University in Greenville SC)
He also worked as a music teacher at BJU before starting Majesty Music.
When BJU got wind of his dementia diagnosis, they wanted to do something special to give back and to say thank you to Ron and Shelly for their lifelong commitment and dedication to the Patch The Pirate ministry, and for the way they've ministered, touched, impacted so many people's lives over the years. Including my own.
BJU got the idea to start a lifetime achievement award.
They of course picked Ron as their first recipient.
In Sept of 2018 BJU announced on social media that as the kickoff to their homecoming week, they would be honoring Ron with a lifetime achievement award ceremony.
They invited anyone who wanted to, to send in a minute long video telling Ron how he had impacted their life. This event was also open to the public.
Shelly wrote this and posted it on social media.
I had just seen Ron back in March of 2018 and I wasn't expecting him to have a downhill slide so quickly. I cried as I read this. I was really hoping someone would do something to let him know how loved and appreciated he is to all of us. I'm so glad BJU decided to do this for Ron.
BJU announced that they would be livestreaming this event.
I knew this was going to be a very emotional day. God did two things that day to show me he cares and understands how I feel.
1. He matched up dates
When I saw the date of this event I couldn't believe it!
The date of this event is Oct 11, 2018.
This is significant to me because I had my first miracle sinus surgery on Oct 11, 2012.
2. I was amazed when I saw Ron's birth date, Nov 9.
I happened to have my second miracle surgery on Nov 9, 2015.
This to me is just evidence of God's hand in my life,
and evidence that God brought Ron and Shelly and Majesty Music into my life for a reason.
I've heard Ron tell a story about how God has matched up dates for him to show him God's hand in his life.
Ron lost his left eye to cancer on May 18, 1978
Ron and Shelly buried their oldest son on May 18, 2013
Ron was asked to preach on May 18, 2014
I think it's so interesting that God matched up dates for me with Majesty Music just like he did for Ron.
Coincidence? I don't think so.
God reminded me of the rainbow he had given me either before or after my miracle sinus surgery 8 years ago on Oct 11, 2012.
I woke up early that morning (Oct 11, 2018) to turn on the computer and get the Livestream up and ready. I checked Facebook to make sure that there were no changes being announced for this event. When I opened up my Facebook the very first thing I saw was a memory from Oct 11, 2012 (The day of my miracle sinus surgery) 8 years ago. This is what it said.
This Facebook memory is significant for me because the Patch Adventure "Ocean Commotion" is the Patch adventure that made the Bible real, personal and relatable for me. This Patch Adventure is the story of Noah. How he found grace in the eyes of the Lord and how God is our refuge.
Just like God gave Noah a rainbow as a promise that he would never flood the earth again and that he is their refuge, God reminded me of the rainbow that he gave me 8 years ago as a reminder that he is my refuge and was walking with me on this very emotional day.
Here's the video of Ron’s lifetime achievement award ceremony.
This event was some closure for me.
But I still wanted to tell Ron in person what he means to me (since I didn't have a chance to do that at the Ocean Commotion Live concert back in March of 2018) but didn't know if I'd get the chance to do that or not.
As I mentioned in an earlier post I was working on my Patch The Pirate sketchnote book and hoping and praying that I'd get the chance to show it to him and Shelly and tell them what they mean to me.
The end of this story will be in a future blog post.
As I was working on the sketchnote book there were 2 Patch adventures that really stuck out to me.
The first one is "Ocean Commotion." As I mentioned earlier, that adventure made the Bible real for me for the first time. You can read that blog post here.
The second one is "The Evolution Revolution." There is a line at the end of that Patch adventure that means the world to me. It totally changed my view of my life situation. The line is this:
Derwin: "Captain Patch, why did God put me on this earth?
Patch: "Derwin, you were made to praise the Lord!"