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ARCHIVE POST FROM FRED PAHLKE.COM<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tragedy befell Monte Williams just a few short days ago\u00a0 (February 10, 2016) when the Oklahoma City Thunder assistant head coach lost his wife to an auto accident.\u00a0 Tribute to Ingrid Williams has been strong as the loss of this wife, mother, and spiritual confidant has inflicted sorrow to the cities of Oklahoma City and New Orleans, the family of the National Basketball Association, and the Williams inter-circle of family and close friends.\u00a0 The fans of sport, not only the Association, have lost a precious soul on earth in Ingred, but in fact, has gained a man in Monte Williams, as a leader of faith and families that all can emulate in our own existence.\u00a0 Yes, a tough week for all, but in God, as believers know, there is a Master plan.<\/span><\/p>\n What others have said about Coach\u00a0and Ingrid in print and the media the past week tell us that good people do not have to broadcast themselves to the masses to be significant\u00a0beings on earth.\u00a0Men like Monte and women like Ingrid do make a difference in everyday life by the way they conduct their business with those they cross paths with in the course of living a life of service.\u00a0 If not for this tragedy, most of us would have never known of the wonderful man\u00a0Coach is, would not have\u00a0known how\u00a0influential a\u00a0family figure he is.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We need to get down on our hands and knees and thank him for being a righteous person that displays what is best in the human condition.\u00a0 Monte Williams is leader of not only men on the court, but men that want to be successful in being the leader of their own families.<\/span><\/p>\n I have posted the words of Coach in at the Memorial service of his wife (thanks to the Oklahoman for printing them).\u00a0 What he has told us is a simple but important lesson on how God, family, and the humanity of man is tied together to form a perfect marriage of goodness, always, even in a time of tribulation.\u00a0 As we must, to love and be faithful to God and goodness has to include the action of forgiveness.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Coach Williams at the funeral:<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m thankful for all the people that showed up today. It\u2019s a pretty tough time, not just for me but for all of you as well. I\u2019m mindful of that.<\/em><\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n\u201cI\u2019m thankful for my family. My children have been\u00a0unbelievably\u00a0resilient this past week. All of my relatives who\u2019ve flown and drove.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cMany friends, some people flew in for the day just to spend a few hours with me and didn\u2019t even get that accomplished. But it all is well received by my family and especially me.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cThe Bible says in Psalms 133:1, \u201cBehold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.\u201d And I think that\u2019s what we\u2019ve done, and that\u2019s what Ingrid would have wanted.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cPsalms 73:1 says, \u201cGod is good.\u201d<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cAnd I John 4:16 says, \u201cGod is love.\u201d<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cDuring times like this, it\u2019s easy to forget that because what we\u2019ve gone through is pretty tough and it\u2019s hard and we want an answer. We don\u2019t always get that answer when we want it, but we can\u2019t lose sight of the fact that God loves us and that\u2019s what my wife and that\u2019s what I, however badly, exhibit on a daily basis. But God does love us.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cHe loved me so much that he sent his son to die for my sins, and I for one know I\u2019m not the man that you guys see every day. And only God could cover that.\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cHe loved me so much that he gave me a wife that loved every part of me, and she fit me perfectly, and I know different players that I\u2019ve had over the years probably got tired of me talking about my wife. I used to think to myself, \u201cWho else was I going to talk about?\u201d So, that never bothered me.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cRomans 8:28 says, \u201cAnd we know that God\u00a0causes\u00a0all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.\u201d<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cAll of this will work out. As hard as this is for me and my family and for you, this will work out. I know this because I\u2019ve seen this in my life.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cSee, back in 1990, at the University of Notre Dame, I had a doctor look me in the face and say, \u201cYou\u2019re gonna die if you keep playing basketball.\u201d And I had testing done. Test after test, shipping me all over the place trying to find a way for me to play, and it didn\u2019t work out.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cAnd I kept that from Ingrid. She knew I was having some tests done, but she didn\u2019t know the severity of the situation.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cSo, my career was over at the age of 18, and we had a press conference, and I left the press conference by myself and I went to her dorm room and I told her what happened. And the very next word out of her mouth, words out of her mouth after we probably cried a little bit, she said, \u201cHoney, Jesus can heal your heart.\u201d<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m evidence that God can work it out.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cI don\u2019t care what you\u2019re going through. This is hard for my family, but this will work out. And my wife would punch me if I were to sit up here and whine about what\u2019s going on. That doesn\u2019t take away the pain. But it will work out because God causes all things to work out. You just can\u2019t quit. You can\u2019t give in.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u201cSee, the Bible says Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. And America teaches us to just numb that and it\u2019s not true. But it is true. All you gotta do is look around you. Get outside of these walls and you know it\u2019s true.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cThis will work out.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cDoesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s not hard. Doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s not painful. Doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re don\u2019t have tough times and we\u2019re gonna have tough times. But what we need is the Lord, and that\u2019s what my wife tried to exhibit every single day.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cNow, I\u2019m gonna close with this, and I think it\u2019s the most important thing that we need to understand. Everybody\u2019s praying for me and my family, which is right. But let us not forget that there were two people in this situation. And that family needs prayer as well.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cAnd we have no ill will toward that family.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cIn my house, we have a sign that says, \u201cAs for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.\u201d We cannot serve the Lord if we don\u2019t have a heart of forgiveness.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cThat family didn\u2019t wake up wanting to hurt my wife. Life is hard. It is very hard. And that was tough, but we hold no ill will toward the Donaldson family, and we as a group,\u00a0brothers\u00a0united in unity, should be praying for that family because they grieve as well. So let\u2019s not lose sight of what\u2019s important.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cGod will work this out. My wife is in heaven. God loves us. God is love. And when we walk away from this place today, let\u2019s celebrate because my wife is where we all need to be. And I\u2019m envious of that.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cBut I\u2019ve got five crumb-snatchers that I need to deal with.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cI love you guys for taking time out of your day to celebrate my wife.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cWe didn\u2019t lose her. When you lose something, you can\u2019t find it. I know exactly where my wife is.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/a>\u201cI\u2019ll miss holding her hand. I\u2019ll miss talking with my wife.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cSam (Presti) and Coach (Billy) Donovan probably couldn\u2019t figure out why I always wanted to get out of the office. Me and Mo Cheeks. Mo probably wanted to go do something else, but we always wanted to get out of the office. I just enjoyed being with my wife.\u00a0I enjoyed being with my family, and most of the time, we didn\u2019t do anything. We\u2019d just be at the house, sittin\u2019 around, doin\u2019 nothin\u2019. I\u2019m gonna miss that.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cLet\u2019s not lose sight of what\u2019s important. God is important. What Christ did on the cross is important.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cLet\u2019s not lose sight of that family that\u00a0also\u00a0lost someone that they love.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cI love you guys. I hope I get a chance to hug and shake a hand and give a kiss on the cheek. But let\u2019s keep what\u2019s important at the forefront.<\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cThank you.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n