Local pastor writes book to help others through grief
On November 1, 2015, Bill McEntire’s life changed forever. That was the day that his wife Wanda, his ‘best friend, confidant and critic’ died unexpectedly.
McEntire and his wife were married for nearly 30 years after meeting in seminary, both of them planning to be missionaries. God, it seemed, had different plans for them.
“God called me into the ministry,” McEntire said. “I accepted Jesus when I was 16 years old. I prayed for over a year and ran from his calling to preach; I wanted to do something to make an impact on a lot of people. I thought it was being a missionary and teaching people how to raise cattle in a third world country but he changed my mind. I ran a lot like Jonah and gave excuses like Moses but I finally became content and accepted the call and I have been preaching ever since.”
He has served in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina. He has been in his current post at Black Creek Baptist Church in Darlington for 9 years.
“Even though I am a North Carolinian, I call South Carolina my home because I love it here and the people here have been so wonderful to me,” McEntire said. “South Carolina has the greatest sunsets and sunrises, I’ve found. That is something my wife and I enjoyed so many times.”
They had just experienced a week of those beautiful sunrises and sunsets when the unthinkable happened.
“We had just gotten back from Myrtle Beach from a week’s vacation; we had been going there about 20 years,” McEntire said. “The vacation was fine. She got back home and Saturday she didn’t feel good. She woke up the next day and couldn’t breathe, all that day. We went to McLeod and stayed and about 8 hours later she died. She had a blood clot that went straight to her heart and that was it.”
McEntire said that he experienced an emotion during that time that he can’t put into words.
“I can’t really explain the grief and the sorrow and the heartache that I went through and I am still going through,” McEntire said. “I think it will be a continual journey of faith. I thank God and I praise him for this church family here. If it were not for them, and my family and my wife’s family, I think I would have just gotten into a ball and died. I have been in the situation and preached many sermons to people who have lost their spouse and said I understand; I had no clue, no idea what it was like.”
After the passing of his wife McEntire got direction from God again, this time telling him to write a book.
“I asked God what I could do to help other people who have gone through this,” McEntire said. “He said to write a book and I kind of laughed. I told him that I would do it but that he would have to show me what to write.”
McEntire said that he his open and honest in his book, sharing his struggles and the pain that he experienced hoping that show others that it is a continual journey and that they must take each day as it comes.
“My goal wasn’t to make money,” McEntire said. “It was to help others and glorify him.”
Never The Same can be purchased at Barnes and Noble and online on Amazon. Find more information about the book and Pastor McEntire at www.emptyyetfull.com.