Without a Grumble

"14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world. 16 Hold firmly the message of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn't run in vain or labor for nothing." -Philippians 2:14-16, HCSB

These can be difficult verses to live out. So often, we want to complain. It's too cold. It's too hot. My car won't start. My haircut is awful. I have no money. My boss is a jerk. On and on and on we go. Yet, verse 14 clearly says to "do everything without grumbling or complaining." Can anyone do that? I'm here to tell about someone who has.

No one in my life has ever been a stronger testimony for these verses than Anthony Horsman. Anthony fully believed in "living life to the fullest," as he was always in a great mood and looking to start some new adventure. Never, in the year and a half that I have known him, have I ever heard a grumble or complaint come out of Anthony Horsman's mouth. He loved his parents deeply. He had a fiancee in Canada that he loved dearly. He was a fitness freak, spending his time at the gym wisely and getting more muscles than a G.I. Joe (If you aren't impressed by that, you haven't seen a G.I. Joe). He was an avid sports fan, particularly for his beloved Cowboys. Yet, even as they struggled on the gridiron this season, he never really complained. To Anthony, what was the use in complaining? Complaints rarely fix anything, and don't even help you feel better about a situation. Life is simply too short to waste time on complaints. That was his motto.

Just as much as Anthony was the person in my life that complained the least, he was also the person that had the most excuse for it. You see, Anthony has cystic fibrosis (CF). As Google Health puts it,

"Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease that causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive tract. It is one of the most common chronic lung diseases in children and young adults, and may result in early death."

I came to know Anthony as the "person with the car for sale." My little brother Michael was turning 16, and my parents were looking for a car to get him. Just down the street, a shiny blue-green Oldsmobile Alero was for sale at a reasonable price and it would become Michael's first car. This car's previous owner had been Anthony's sister, Amber. Amber, who also had CF, had already left the pains of this Earth to go see her Father in Heaven. My parents, through talking with the Horsman parents and Anthony, got to know the family. So, on the day Michael turned 16 and got his new car, Anthony was there to see him get it. A friendship began that day.

Michael and Anthony became very close after that. While the rest of my family all loved Anthony, it was Michael who really hit it off with him. They'd just hang out, ride in the car or go workout at the gym, just whatever. Anthony particularly liked to drive them around in his Hyundai Tiburon, which he adored. I meant a lot to me, as a protective older brother, for there to be someone that could drive my brother around and do things with him, and I didn't have to worry at all about him. Anthony was someone I could trust to take care of my brother.

Anthony had a little business to the side, as a way to make a little more money than his job in the electronics department at Wal-Mart could give him. He would take your iPhone apart, fix whatever was wrong, and then you get it back. He was a wizard with an iPhone. My mom actually bought her iPhone from him, and I cannot tell you how patient he was, coming back to my house on several occasions one night, all to make sure my mom's phone would work for her. He didn't do that just because that's good business; he was just that great of a guy and friend.

Despite his great physical condition, his lungs finally caught up with him and sent him to the hospital in mid-December. CF had reduced his lung function tremendously, and now his lungs were in bad shape. At first, this was of little concern. He's been in the hospital several times before, and this should have been routine. However, it ended up being more troublesome than expected. After weeks and weeks of battling this disease, Anthony went to see the Father this morning.

"5 But I have trusted in Your faithful love; my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance. 6 I will sing to the Lord because He has treated me generously." -Psalm 13:5-6, HCSB

This verse may seem out of place. Here we are, discussing the passing of a great guy, and then I throw out this verse about rejoicing God. What?! We should be questioning why God didn't heal him, right?

These two verses are the last two in one of the shorter Psalms in the book of Psalms, Psalm 13. I read this Psalm yesterday morning in my quiet time, and then didn't think about it the rest of the day. Do you know what the author, King David, wrote about in the first four verses? He was praying to God to remove a sickness from him. And while God didn't choose to remove Anthony's sickness from him, which he certainly could have, he did deliver Anthony. He did treat Anthony generously, and we should rejoice and sing for this.

Anthony loved God, and God is repaying him for that now. Anthony is, right now, standing in the presence of the Creator of the Earth. Anthony is with God's Son, Anthony's Savior. Anthony is surrounded by the glory of God, with a healthy body and perfect lungs and even better G.I. Joe muscles. Anthony is now in a flawless body, and couldn't be happier than he is right now. His pain, suffering, and sickness are all gone. I used the past tense for the majority of this post, as Anthony's Earthly life is over. But Anthony lives, and couldn't be happier. For that, I rejoice in God's mercy. Thank you God, and thank you Anthony. We will see you soon.


Anthony and Michael in the Alero









The Hyundai, Anthony's baby






Anthony's Halloween costume this year








Anthony and Diana, his fiancee