We have received a gift today. When we open it, we find a card and this is what it says: Today, Friday, November 13, 2020. The card is signed like this: Your Father in heaven. I will be the first to confess this is not how I open and embrace each day, but, I do know if I did and we all did, it would make a huge difference in how we go about our lives. The good news is how God continues to love us even when we are not at our best. Not because we deserve anything from Him, but, only because of our relationship with Him as His own child through the finished work of His One and Only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
Speaking of gifts and giving, here's a blog I wrote when I was just getting cranked up. I think it was my 15th blog. A little wordy but I do think it makes the point:
THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2007
Thanks for Giving Into My Life!
Sad to say but far too many of us fail to consider the lasting impact others have had on our lives. In the “self-made” world we live in, it’s hardly something most people ever think about. But it is something I think about often and have thought about for many years. I am so very grateful that I recognized this early 
enough to be able to personally thank most of the people who gave of themselves that I might be able to experience all that God has brought my way. If you have not done this, I highly recommend it because time will not wait. Someday I will talk much more about many individuals within my family circle, but for today I want to remember a few people in the community where I grew up who cared enough to interject themselves into my life as I sought to find my way.
There’s no way to do justice to this type of effort, therefore, a few highlights are all that time and space will allow. While I am not an expert on the whole concept of being able to inspire others, I will say there are special people who see in you more than you would ever believe, and they take action based on what they see that you can’t, therefore, you end up becoming much more than you would have otherwise. Sounds confusing but in my case, it is very true.
Let me also say it’s so much more than the common stuff around today about building self-esteem where people are made to think they are wonderful no matter what they do. This latter approach is building a society of narcissists where a recent study found that 62% of college students now put the concept of me, myself, and I, first, above any and all other considerations.
As for those who impacted my life, there was a teacher who also was our neighbor. She was a legend in our small town as a model of dedication and commitm
ent to excellence. She taught in the local schools there for over 40 years. Unfortunately, I never was her official student; but because she believed in her heart of hearts that reading was one of the keys to success in life, she, as our neighbor, spent considerable time with me, and gave me books to read, and encouraged me. Looking back I now can say: “Wow! Was she ever right!” She died many years ago but I thank God for her time spent with an 11-year-old boy where she opened her personal library and gave to me the gift of reading, and inspired dreaming, and the ability to travel to places far and wide through the printed page.
I also remember a pastor who allowed myself and a friend to tag along with him and other preachers in traveling to out of town fellowship meetings. These were truly men of God but by allowing us to go with them we learned that they
were also men with families, and while they were men with a special calling they were also very ordinary men who loved to kid, laugh, and joke with one another. The meetings were hosted by different Churches on a rotating basis, some as far as 100 miles away from our small town. Typically, as many as a dozen or more preachers showed up. Each preacher always brought his best new sermon and the moderator would randomly choose three or four to preach. We heard some powerful sermons and then we heard them discussed all the way back home. I’m thankful for this because it helped spark a lifelong desire in me to study and know God’s word which has led to my more than 40 years as a Bible teacher. I’m sure having us along was not the most convenient for these men, but they did it. I still remember well one night when our group drove all over Shreveport because one of the pastors thought he remembered a hole in the wall where he once bought 5 hamburgers for a dollar. We laughed, we listened, we enjoyed, and returning sometimes in the wee hours of the morning, we knew it had been time well spent!
If you have read my Mother’s Day tribute blog dated May 11, 2007, you read about how we lost my dad in 1954 which was a cataclysmic event for us. Looking back, having relocated into a small sleepy rural town, there’s no way we could have been anything other than pitiful. My mom was 30, widowed with six children, and having to live with her parents. The odd thing is that we never knew
we were pitiful. It was as if the entire community conspired to not let us know the reality of our situation. I know many helped in different ways. Yet, I never knew of anyone who made an open show or big deal about what they did. Lunchroom workers piled up the food on my plate as they bathed me with their loving support. In a low key and natural way, folks went out of their way to let me know they were on my side.
Okay, maybe I was just a naïve kid. Maybe I am reliving my past and seeing it all through rose-colored glasses. I don’t think so. Could
it be there was a time when a spirit of Mayberry was alive and well somewhere other than in a fictional TV series? I think so, and I thank God for the people who made it a reality for me! This is only a very small sampling of a few remembrances of people from my early life and that was only the beginning; therefore, you can be sure there will be much more later…………
enough to be able to personally thank most of the people who gave of themselves that I might be able to experience all that God has brought my way. If you have not done this, I highly recommend it because time will not wait. Someday I will talk much more about many individuals within my family circle, but for today I want to remember a few people in the community where I grew up who cared enough to interject themselves into my life as I sought to find my way.There’s no way to do justice to this type of effort, therefore, a few highlights are all that time and space will allow. While I am not an expert on the whole concept of being able to inspire others, I will say there are special people who see in you more than you would ever believe, and they take action based on what they see that you can’t, therefore, you end up becoming much more than you would have otherwise. Sounds confusing but in my case, it is very true.
Let me also say it’s so much more than the common stuff around today about building self-esteem where people are made to think they are wonderful no matter what they do. This latter approach is building a society of narcissists where a recent study found that 62% of college students now put the concept of me, myself, and I, first, above any and all other considerations.
As for those who impacted my life, there was a teacher who also was our neighbor. She was a legend in our small town as a model of dedication and commitm
ent to excellence. She taught in the local schools there for over 40 years. Unfortunately, I never was her official student; but because she believed in her heart of hearts that reading was one of the keys to success in life, she, as our neighbor, spent considerable time with me, and gave me books to read, and encouraged me. Looking back I now can say: “Wow! Was she ever right!” She died many years ago but I thank God for her time spent with an 11-year-old boy where she opened her personal library and gave to me the gift of reading, and inspired dreaming, and the ability to travel to places far and wide through the printed page.I also remember a pastor who allowed myself and a friend to tag along with him and other preachers in traveling to out of town fellowship meetings. These were truly men of God but by allowing us to go with them we learned that they
were also men with families, and while they were men with a special calling they were also very ordinary men who loved to kid, laugh, and joke with one another. The meetings were hosted by different Churches on a rotating basis, some as far as 100 miles away from our small town. Typically, as many as a dozen or more preachers showed up. Each preacher always brought his best new sermon and the moderator would randomly choose three or four to preach. We heard some powerful sermons and then we heard them discussed all the way back home. I’m thankful for this because it helped spark a lifelong desire in me to study and know God’s word which has led to my more than 40 years as a Bible teacher. I’m sure having us along was not the most convenient for these men, but they did it. I still remember well one night when our group drove all over Shreveport because one of the pastors thought he remembered a hole in the wall where he once bought 5 hamburgers for a dollar. We laughed, we listened, we enjoyed, and returning sometimes in the wee hours of the morning, we knew it had been time well spent!If you have read my Mother’s Day tribute blog dated May 11, 2007, you read about how we lost my dad in 1954 which was a cataclysmic event for us. Looking back, having relocated into a small sleepy rural town, there’s no way we could have been anything other than pitiful. My mom was 30, widowed with six children, and having to live with her parents. The odd thing is that we never knew
we were pitiful. It was as if the entire community conspired to not let us know the reality of our situation. I know many helped in different ways. Yet, I never knew of anyone who made an open show or big deal about what they did. Lunchroom workers piled up the food on my plate as they bathed me with their loving support. In a low key and natural way, folks went out of their way to let me know they were on my side.Okay, maybe I was just a naïve kid. Maybe I am reliving my past and seeing it all through rose-colored glasses. I don’t think so. Could
it be there was a time when a spirit of Mayberry was alive and well somewhere other than in a fictional TV series? I think so, and I thank God for the people who made it a reality for me! This is only a very small sampling of a few remembrances of people from my early life and that was only the beginning; therefore, you can be sure there will be much more later…………
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