Brother Jimmie

One of many people to come to me after the fire was a man I had not met before. He name is Jim Clemmons. Doctor Jim Clemmons, that is, but he'd rather not make any big deal of that. He much prefers to be called Brother Jimmie.

Brother Jim is the pastor of North Main Baptist Church in Liberty, Texas. He has spent lots of time with me, listening and counseling, and giving me lots of love, and help. There isn't enough space on this entire blog to tell you all the times Brother Jim and I have talked and how he has helped not only me, but our whole family. As Rusty said, there just aren't many pastors like Brother Jim; he is a shining definition of the word, "Pastor".

Following is an excerpt from the manuscript I have submitted for a book:

Soon after the fire, I learned that the people of Botetourt County, Virginia were planning a memorial service there too. I was moved by the fact that the people of the town would want to do that when we had barely met anyone, only having lived there one month. But, they said, they had to. Their hometown was strongly affected by this tragedy and they, too, were grieving. They had to do something.

I wanted to go, and I am humbled by the generosity of so many people. I made my desire known and suddenly, in a flurry of activity, people got on the phone and plans were made and the next thing I knew, round trip tickets were provided for all who asked. People from our church and others gave up frequent flyer miles for trips they’d planned for family vacations so that we could all get to Virginia at minimal cost. One very generous man, who had been saving his flyer miles a long time, and was planning his dream trip to France to see the Tour de France, gave up all of his flyer miles for us. That dream trip, his wife told me, meant nothing to him in comparison.

Eleven members of the Street family went, along with a pastor, Dr. Jim Clemmons, who I later learned had been a firefighter before he was a pastor. Brother Jim, as he preferred to be called, was the pastor of North Main Baptist Church in Liberty, Texas, where Mycol’s sister, Lynna and her husband, Rusty, were members. Typical of Brother Jim, in his most gracious and humble way he decided he would accompany us at his own expense because, as he put it, “This family should not for one minute be left in need of a pastor at this time.”

Brother Jim is not a man who seeks recognition. He’s a man who serves. And he has done a lot of that for our family.

One week after the fire, Monday, February 3, we arrived in Virginia for the second memorial service. We were met at the airport by Don Eckenroth, who, with his wife, Kim, own and operate a Christian hospice company, Gentle Shepherd Hospice, that serves all of southwestern Virginia.

Look at the Lord at work here. He did not leave us alone. He brought us together with a pastor who has been a firefighter and a couple who work compassionately with grieving families as their work for the Lord.

At the end of the service, Brother Jim stepped up as the family spokesman and thanked all the wonderfully loving people of Botetourt County who were willing to come out on a cold, cold Monday night, to honor a family most of them hadn’t met yet, to love a woman most had only heard about, and to share in the grief with the rest of our family. Brother Jim told them the family had wondered why we would want to leave Texas, but now, seeing the love and commitment of the people of Botetourt, he could understand the beauty that attracted us there. “When we return to Texas, we will all have a little bit of Virginia in us. I hope,” his voice wavered, “that you will have a little bit of Texas in you.”

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Yesterday Brother Jimmie was diagnosed with colon cancer. He will undergo surgery Monday, March 27, at 11:00 am in Houston. Please pray with the Street family for this man we all love so very, very much.