It never ceased to amaze me that James Bruce had this incredible sense of timing with his choice of song selection. The funny thing was, James Bruce could actually carry a tune and Bruce couldn’t! We have laughed and said we bet his first words in heaven were “Let’s sing!” and not “Wet’s sing.” He never could say his L’s here on earth. He and his Daddy would sing every night before bedtime. James Bruce couldn’t carry on a decent conversation, but he knew hundreds of hymns. If you ever met James Bruce, you knew that he loved to sing. He was also in the first multi-challenged special education class at Vestavia High School. James Bruce was in the very first ECEH class at West Elementary. God used him to change the special education structure within our local school system. And He used James Bruce to be a change agent for others. Truthfully, that prayer didn’t change my circumstances, but God used it to change us. But blessed and broken by Jesus’ hands, those pieces were used to feed a hungry and needy world. As long as those 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish were whole, there was just enough for a one lad’s lunch. All of my speaking, teaching, and writing have been part of our Evans gathering the broken pieces process. He then tells his 12 disciples, “Gather up the pieces that nothing will be lost.” That verse became my life verse. In John’s account of Jesus feeding the 5000, Jesus multiplies 5 loaves & 2 fish and feeds 5000 people. Not long after that prayer I discovered Jesus’ words found in John 6:12.

Bruce asked me, “What’s the matter?” I said, “The one we named for you, is the one that has something wrong.” My sweet husband looked at me and said, “Donna, if any of them needed my name, he’s the one that needed it the most! You need to quit praying for God to make him normal and start praying for God to use him for His glory.”Īngrily, I responded with: “How is God ever going to use THIS?” and Bruce replied, “I don’t know but we’re going to trust Him to do it.” So, I began to pray, “God use James Bruce for your glory.” But I never really dreamed that God would or could do just that.

James Bruce was 5 years old when his dad came home from work one day and found me crying.

When the call came on Saturday morning that he had died in his sleep, we were shocked. Bruce and I realized with James Bruce’s very first seizure that this day might come, but honestly, we never dreamed that it really would.

Incredibly loved and deeply missed