There are some wonderful people in Grahamstown. Here is one of them.
Frederick R. Otten (aka Fred or Freddie)(Fred's on the left of the photo, for those of you who weren't sure!)
Fred lives in the room next to mine in 3 Graham Street. He is a very loving and caring guy. This year ALONE he has made me endless cups of tea; he always pops into my room to see what's up (Nathan's the only other one who does... - and he's about to leave :-( ); and in the beginning of the year he sorted out my computer (he says it was a system thing, but I reckon he drove out several demons from it). Nothing is too much for Fred. He defines servanthood. I remember one Friday evening I was watching the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King on Dean's machine, and was feeling miff because of the example set by the Hobbits in their friendships (and I wasn't living that out/experiencing it - partly my fault... - a time of "relational character building": the most hectic bits were how Sam went back to help Frodo after Frodo thought Sam was against him, on the mountain ladder/spider scene: flip - that is my number one lesson in faithfulness at all costs; the other hectic lesson was the care and concern between Merry and Peregrine espec. on the battlefield. I want to be that.); well, Fred waltzed in on cue that evening and offered tea and a chat (I'm sure he's actually an angel sent to minister to us frail heirs of salvation!). Fred loves the Lord and His Kingdom. Fred is selfless and no matter what goes on, he goes on - whether there's no milk or he rolls his car. Most of all, he likes my jokes (the others pretend not to - IMPOSTERS!! Be sure your sin will find you out...). He is very consistent - I've never seen him throwing his toys out the cot (and he has a lot of toys - well, guitars!) And Fred is an excellent cricket coach: After 29 years of limited overs knowledge on my side, he ironed out some of the creases in my batting and didn't leave me stumped by his explanations. He pitched in and helped me out. As said at a previous occassion, he will know how to bowl his maiden over! (that is so wicket)
Fred, I love you bru! For you: "Oh how great is Your goodness that You have stored up for those who fear you!" Psalm 31:19
Bye now -
8 comments:
Hey you furry dude.
You can like to be crazy! Me jealous. You stud... oops, left of the "ent". You student!
Funny man, don't ever grow old. I.e. stay like your parents.
Made me smile, thank you ;-)
-b
haha - thanks for the post! It much appreciated! life is too good to waste being old: the Lord renews our youth!! (as Jesus said, unless you become like little children you cannot enter the Kingdom)
Dood, this is a great post. An ode to a great man (he's in pig with me... I'm cool). But don't sell yourslef short (tehe), you are right up there with the upstanding men in my life and I feel your humility far surpasses the necessary mark. And I do like your jokes. Even if I have to pretend not to in case an attack on my being occurs due to my being on the percieved wrong side of the fence.
Short-boy, you are so encouraging. May the Lord multiply that back to you! You are blessed with Fred in pig: Fred is a legend: he knows how to love consistently, and that is a powerful example to me.
I found a place to make a comment ... yeah baby.
Nice blog, looking forward to seeing a shot of your trumpet on here soon.
Jen says : Nice beard.
Gavin in jhb
Hey Gav - really cool to hear from you! Send some photos....Hope you and Jen are well and are prophesying over nations...
Hey Brig
Thanks for the post and for being a great woman of meekness and gentleness.
Ralph
I'm in disipleship with Fred and just wanna echo Ralphie's sentiments. Fred is totally a WYSIWYG "what you see is what you get" kinda guy. I'm also priviledged to be his friend!
The Shungulator
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