Daniel was the naughty one of the family. Which meant he was given the blame for everything even when it wasn’t his fault. Although it usually was!
One particular time I remember was when he came home from school to cause havoc in seconds. Andrew was doing a jigsaw puzzle, Stephen was building with Lego and Ben was content with colouring pencils. Peace reigned in the playroom. But all that changed in a moment. Jigsaw pieces were scattered, Lego and crayons went flying in the air. At which point Daniel headed to his bedroom leaving three distraught brothers behind!
He was the one who thought up the great ideas. The one who decided it would be such a laugh to walk around the room without touching the floor. Four children walking along window ledges and across the mantelpiece was never Mum’s idea of fun.
I remember a time when snow fell thick and fast and so they all four went with some friends over to the fields to build a massive snowman. A neighbour was teaching them how to roll the snow to make the biggest snowballs ever. Ben was painstakingly working alone on his snowball and when it was just at its most impressive Dan came along and emptied it over Ben’s head. Just so typical.
He teased his young brothers endlessly and mercilessly but was the first to stand up to anyone who dared cross them. One day Stephen was told by the Deputy Head that he couldn’t be in the choir any longer. Daniel was straight out the door and across the school field before we fully realised where he had gone. Straight up to the Deputy Head and asked him what ever he meant by suggesting his younger brother couldn’t sing in the choir. The choirmaster stepped back immediately in face of such determination and Steve sang in the choir until he left Junior School.
Daniel was always trouble with a capital T. Always. He would be the one to casually press the pedestrian crossing button on the way to his swimming lesson, holding up the traffic for nothing. Unfortunately the Head found out and he was disqualified from lessons for the next few weeks. He was the crazy one who broke his nose playing rugby, and dislocated his shoulder riding a friend’s motorbike in the middle of nowhere.
And yet underneath his heart was so soft. So vulnerable. A heart of gold. When Andrew came home from hospital as a baby and cried at feeding time Dan cried too. When Ben fell off his bike over the gravel pits Dan was the one to go back and find his glasses lens.
He never came to terms with Andrew’s home call, his young eyes shed the tears when his Grandad died, and only last summer he upheld me in the Home call of his Grandma. He was quick to laugh and quick to cry. His sense of humour easily bubbled over and yet he shared deeply in other people’s sorrows. We shall forever miss his huge grin that lit up his face and his strong sense of loyalty. His optimism and his positive approach to life. Our hearts are breaking but we know God has His Way in the whirlwind and that there has been a reunion in heaven in which one day we shall join.
At a very early age his Grandad sat Dan upon his knee and taught him the little chorus
Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone,
Dare to have a purpose firm,
Dare to make it known.
Those words were etched into his mind as a small boy and we can look back and see how the Lord had his plans for Daniel and brought so many opportunities into his life to fulfil the words of that children’s chorus.
He gave his heart to Jesus at a young age and was baptised at the age of 13. In his church at Mill Lane, Cheshunt he was involved in the weekly children’s club called Adventurers where he took an active part in the quizzes and stories. He started going along to summer Christian camps when he was seven and eventually became a tent leader at the Cheddar Camp with his own group of youngsters who he easily bonded with and talked to about eternal issues. He loved sport passionately, in particular football, and also used this recreation as a means to identify with children and young people.
His burden was always to work with the youth. The druggies and school dropouts who no one else wanted. This dream began to unfold in 2002 at Mill Lane Chapel. Invitations had gone out to all the well behaved teenage contacts we had in the area and no one turned up. Never defeated Daniel crossed the road to the fish and chip shop where the hoodies hung out. Boldly approaching the ring leader he invited him in and the entire group followed. He had found his youth group in one brave invitation and within two years we estimated about 100 young teenagers, mostly aged 15-16, had been through the doors. Those evenings were terrifying. We felt in the middle of a battle waged between the forces of good and evil. And yet God’s presence has rarely seemed more powerful to us. We felt hedged by angel protection. The youth were devoted to Daniel and he to them. He was just one of them and that is how he gained their love and respect. Once I asked a teenage lad exactly why they all turned up to a church group and he simply said ‘because Dan talks to us’.
Ever one to see an opportunity he asked some of them to work with him in his landscaping and building business. He trusted them and gave them work to try and put them on their feet and see their value as people in the community. He witnessed to them and told them about Jesus. But most of all he showed by the best practical way he could that they mattered to him. That he genuinely loved them. And that he loved them because Jesus loved them. He brought out the best in people. People who had low esteem he made feel valuable. Possessions were nothing to him, it was people who mattered. To everyone he had a friendly smile and a cheerful word to brighten up their day. Time didn’t matter to him. Work would always be there but people wouldn’t.
To everyone who is here today we thank you from the depths of our hearts. To all of his friends here, we share in your pain. To all those who have called round, emailed or phoned we are truly grateful. For every expression of love and real practical support we thank you. To anyone here whose faith is small then we pray it will in some way be strengthened by Dan’s Home call. And to those who are as yet not saved, who do not know Jesus as their Saviour then we would lovingly ask you to think about eternity and how to be prepared in the way that Daniel was. Not for anything he had done, but simply by putting trust in the Only One Who can take us safely to heaven.