Because of our sudden and tragic loss of this fine young man, our feelings of surreal, unbelievable grief, combined with love and appreciation for family and friends grip us all at this time. It is right that we grieve, because God made us that way and we are now in that season. But it is also the time that we celebrate the fact that he was so loved by us all that it is difficult to find a place to sit here today.

Mitchell was born July 3, 1977 and was the first of four children by Robie and Mitch. His beautiful sisters Ashley, Taylor and Sarah followed along with a bevy of cousins. All of whom loved Mitch as the eldest of the brood who openly shared a loving hand for the younger ones around him.

Young Mitch, as I liked to call him, began his life in Tampa. We would see him on family visits during the early years. My memory of those years was of a normal little boy doing his best to grow up in a house full of girls. At a young age, I remember that he had a tough time pronouncing his name and instead of saying Mitchell Nebraska Drew, III, he would proudly announce Mitchell Rakadoo Turd.

When young Mitchell was about ten, his family moved to Tallahassee, where I was able to see him more regularly, appreciate the specialness of his bright life and have the opportunity to grow close. Always ready to take on the world and enjoy life, he was becoming a young man in transition. That was made most evident when he joined crew at Leon and became the coxswain for the team. He began to hone his leadership skills, understand the fulfillment of hard work and develop life long friends.

Of course, young Mitch did the things that all teenagers do – and that was – be a teenager. Mitchell’s experimenting with life was best expressed by him wearing what I called a Samurai ponytail. On occasion, I would remind him that the pony tail could easily be removed by a $2 haircut and further offered to do it for free. He never took me up on the offer and as most teenage stuff finally does – it came and went and didn’t last long.

When it was time for young Mitch to go to college, I asked his father what advice that he was going to give his son. Brother Mitch didn’t hesitate that he had already given him the best he knew – and that was “not to exclude Christ from your college experience.” I remember being stunned by the simplicity and magnitude of that statement. It later became evident that during his college years, young Mitch took that to heart.

Before they graduated from college, young Mitch and his friend, Ricky Lotspeich, joined their fathers and about 100 other men from our community to attend Southwinds retreat that is held each spring for Christian fellowship and spiritual renewal. I was privileged to see these two college boys giving their glowing and heartfelt testimony in a room filled with middle aged men. They had not excluded Christ from their college experience and I watched as two fathers cried as they had passed along the most important truth about life – that Jesus Christ is King.

It was also about this time that I noticed that Mitch had significantly reduced the number of young ladies he was seeing from about twenty to exactly one. Young Mitch had inherited the disease experienced by all Drew men; that being falling in love with beautiful, feisty, challenging women that are a lot smarter than we are. Mitch had found the love of his life at an early age in a precious Auburn girl named Leah. Not only did she clear all the hurdles of Drew men, more importantly, she was his Christian soul mate – and as they joined together to become one, it became evident that their love was uncommon and special. At their wedding it was my pleasure to tell Leah that I would probably not have a son - but if I did - I wanted him to be just like Mitch.

For the past 15 years or so, between Christmas and New Years, my brother and I have gone on a hunting trip to Riverview Plantation. It was a time for us to reflect on the year in our business, personal and spiritual lives and get away to enjoy each others company. For the past several years, young Mitch has joined us as we fellowshipped together. I was able to see how he matured year over year. He had grown from a little boy who couldn’t pronounce his name to a mature, honest, thoughtful, pleasing man of faith. He was indeed a reflection of both his earthly and heavenly fathers.

On one of our last trips to Riverview he sought his father’s opinion of his and Leah’s plan to go out west and enjoy the beauty of the Rockies before settling in on a real job. Of course, his father encouraged him to go and that the grind could wait.

But young Mitch wouldn’t be satisfied not being here for the high school graduation of his sister and one of his cousins. So he and Leah drove back to the southeast where he purposefully visited many of his friends and family. It is as if God allowed us the privilege of seeing him again. He was his true, humble, delightful and Christian self to the very end. Just a few minutes before his death, while he was kayaking with his father-in-law and enjoying a beautiful river in Alabama, he was wondering out loud if the beauty of heaven would be anything like this. He and Ronnie had a great discussion as they often did, as young Mitch expressed his exuberance to be in a place so close to God. But this was no passing fancy for Mitch as he carried a hand written note in his wallet that read “only souls matter on this earth.” A reminder that speaks entirely for itself and one that speaks of a true child of God.

As we now face in what human terms can only be called a tragedy, we know only this, that God is real, Christ is the Way and Mitch is there in full celebration and knows the beauty of paradise.

Why did the Lord allow Mitch to be taken? Was it for one person here today to consider the testimony of his life – or was it for all of us to reexamine our faith? We won’t know until we see him again. But there in lies the beauty – because we will see him again. And even in our misery we can count on one day standing shoulder to shoulder with young Mitch worshiping our Lord forever. For as the famous hymn goes “when we have been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise, than when we first begun.