Day's End

This morning, we said goodbye to Anna's sister and husband, and began our long trek home. Arkansas is an amazing state with magnificent overlooks, majestic mountains, and some pretty good food. All of these we enjoyed.

Anna and I have stayed pretty close to home for the last couple of years which included putting down new roots in Round Rock. I guess it has been two years since we took vacation, so this was wonderful and visiting with Sandy and Bill in their new home.

Our trip took a slight detour to have supper with some very important people in our lives. Jarret and Allison Richardson and their two daughters hosted us for supper. We have not seen this branch of the Richardson family since their last daughter was born. They are amazing little girls, and reminded me a little of my granddaughters.

Jarret was one of three youth in our youth ministry who went on to get PhDs. For a small church it was amazing. These and the rest of the youth during that time were led well by Nick and Ann Marie Reeves. Course Nick got the money and Ann Marie did all the work. They were all amazing and I must say not only made good decisions, went on to college, and often married within the youth group. Jarret teaches at Centenary College of Louisiana. Allison works as a CASA supervisor for Shreveport. She also had a birthday the last couple of days and so we took birthday cupcakes and Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream. We threw in Jarret's early Father's Day just to round out the evening.

Allison is one of those people who endures the system because her faith demands she is on the front lines of intervening for at risk kids. Previous to this position, she worked for CPS in Texas which has the problems of under-staffing, under-budgeting, and early burn out of new workers. The last time I checked new employees to CPS lasted about three years, and then left. She has endured and unsurprisingly, with more passion and dedication to children, who no fault of their own, are neglected or abused. On the home front, during COVID, Jarret is being Mr Mom, as well as taking care of his curtailed duties at the college.

I know that one can take the measure of the function or dysfunction of a home by watching the kids. They were joyous, full of energy, but well behaved. I laughed with Jarret about being a father to girls comparing some of his experiences with those of Joseph. Both men are awesome dads.

Often, in the moments of events, one does not realize the significance of these times. Crescent Heights was absolutely the most missional, caring fellowship of believers. I had the privilege of pastoring three such congregations. Seventh Street Baptist Church was easy on the new to pastorate couple and walked with us through the birth of our two boys. Calvary Baptist Church, Mineral Wells, was an amazing people who came along side us when my father was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx and began a losing battle lasting two long years. Calvary did not just love us, they loved everyone who found their way to us. I remember a visit from some friends from Seventh Street who came for church and then went with us to K-Bobs Steak House for lunch. While we were eating, a man approached our table and asked, “Aren't you the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church?” I introduced myself and our guests. Then he said, “We got a note from your church after my daughter's baby died. It meant the world to us that your church acknowledged our deep loss.” That was Calvary.

Crescent Heights was the last church I served for over 15 years cutting our service short because Anna's sister was alone with the increasingly demanding care of their mother. I had seen what happens when adult children's ministry is too important to stop and come give care to their parents. I knew we could not do that. Something about honoring your father and mother. So, quickly gathering ourselves together, we transitioned to East Texas where I went to manage the Mental Health Department in the maximum security prison which housed Death Row.

I still remember my interview for the position because I met the peers and boss with whom I would work. I did a mediocre job of answering the questions, but as the interview was finishing, I asked a three questions, “How many Mental Health Managers have you had in this position in the last ten years?” I had done some research and my future boss hedged her answer, “I couldn't say exactly?” So I rephrased the question, “How many Mental Health Managers have you had at Polunsky in the last five years?” She gave me the exact number to which I asked my last question, “So what is wrong with the Mental Health Department at Polunsky?” Each of the panel looked at each other and then at me, and I detected a strong desire not to go there. I suspect if the question has been asked previously by a candidate, the answer was the deal breaker for the candidate. Finally, the future boss answered, “Well to be perfectly honest, it is a dysfunctional department, in a dysfunctional Infirmary, in a dysfunctional prison in a dysfunctional prison system.” I thought for a minute, and then responded, “Oh, I have been a Baptist Pastor, I do dysfunction. That is not a problem.” I think all my poor answers faded away when they discovered I would go in with my eyes wide open and was unafraid. Time passed and the yearly evaluation was presented to me over lunch in Huntsville at the Chili's right off the Interstate. We chatted and then she passed my evaluation to me. Then she said, “If I believed you could move this department from dysfunction to functioning as it should, there was no way I could see it happening in a year.” It was then I passed on a little gem I had learned two years before I left Abilene. It was a leadership gem. Jim Collins summed it up in his work, “From Good to Great” when he said, “Leadership is getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus and the right people in the right seats.”

So ends this little trip down memory lane. Anna and I often remark how we truly have lived “in the goodness of God.”

Wash your hands, please wear your mask as a caring gesture for all, mind the gap, and be kind.