Thank you God for a pastor who let me preach my first semon in a church (and let me keep on preaching). Thank you God for a pastor who always smiled and hugged and sometimes poked which I never understood until after his death. Thank you God for a pastor who read lots and wrote lots and let that inform his theology. Thank you God for a "postmodern" pastor who wasn't "too good" or to "different" to join a book study with pastors who differed from him in age and worship style. Thank you God for a pastor who was honest. Thank you God for a pastor who dared to do a few things differently. Thank you God for a pastor who loved his wife and his kids more than life itself.