Andrew Gonzalez

Preacher, Musician, Writer

  • Sleepless In Hot Springs

    I’m having trouble sleeping tonight. I’ve been told that I shouldn’t bring my work home with me. That was really easy when I was doing drywall for a living; I could leave that on the job with ease. Although the drywall mud I tracked through the house, and left on the couch, and embedded in the bathroom rugs, might say otherwise.

    The Lord called me into ministry as a teenager. I preached my first sermon at 18 years old. At 19, I preached my first revival and it lasted 2 weeks. It was in these early years of ministry that I realized, I didn’t want to be just a preacher. I wanted to be a minister. I didn’t want to just come up with fancy words to proclaim from a pulpit…I wanted to be in situations where there were simply no words to say.

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  • When a Baby Dies…

    I’ve been in the ministry for 16 years now, and I’ve been a part of the funeral industry for over 8 of those years.  I wouldn’t say that I’m calloused by any stretch of the imagination, but when you deal with goodbyes, and tragedies, and funerals every day of your life, you are affected differently by death.  It’s not that I’m unaffected; it’s simply the fact that, when death is placed before me, I have a job to do.  I meet people everyday on the worst day of their life, and they are looking to me for guidance, and strength, and confidence.   With that in mind, when the unthinkable happens, when someone’s world is turned upside down, that’s when it becomes the mission of me and my directors to be a calming presence.  We exude a demeanor that isn’t caught off guard, a demeanor that is confident, and a demeanor of professionalism that is so badly needed in this time.

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  • What’s the Rush?

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    The time between a death and a funeral can vary depending on several factors. Have you chosen cremation or burial?  Do you have family coming into town?  When is your minister available?  Is the cemetery available?  The answers to these types of questions play a role in determining when you can have your service.

    We live in a society that wants instant results. We have more time saving devices than ever, yet we never have time.  I want my popcorn in 2 1/2 minutes.  I want my car washed in 5 minutes without lifting a finger.  When I lived in California, one of my favorite fast food restaurants was Jack in the Box.  I remember how angry I would get sitting in the drive thru as I waited for 7 minutes because they wouldn’t make it until I ordered it.  7 minutes in a drive thru!?!?!  Absurd…ya, I know.

    Unfortunately, this mentality has migrated from menial everyday tasks to things that are really important. (more…)

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  • Willows and Palms

    There is a dark cloud that looms over the funeral industry as a whole and it’s not the cloud of death. It’s a cloud of uselessness, and untrustworthiness. Egregious acts of carelessness, mundane funeral services, business owners who set quotas to drive profits, and cold, methodical funeral directors have given the entire industry a black eye. It has relegated the funeral director from a position of care during an extremely important time, to the person who facilitates body disposal. (more…)

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