I Remember

 I went to Kindergarten in Florida before my family relocated to Ohio. Mrs Blevens was an older black woman who had been a teacher for many years. She navigated our 5 year old minds with the care and precision of a surgeon, at least it felt like it every day, especially around nap time when we all got our blankets out. Any tears were quickly offset by a warm hug and assurances that it was going to be alright.  

​I was a seven year old little boy when I nervously walked into a 2nd grade classroom not knowing what to expect. A pleasant smile from Mrs Fox greeted me and began to melt off my anxiousness. Over the next 9 months I developed a real enjoyment for learning while doing quite well in the second grade I might add. Mrs Fox taught me to love learning at an early age. 

My friend Jeff hired me for one of my very first jobs. He had owned a local pizza shop and so I worked in him for a few years but we stayed in touch for many years after the fact. He was a creative man with a history of gang involvement and drug abuse in his past but an encounter with Jesus changed all of that, saw him married, become a successful business owner and a friend to me. Many late night conversations were had in the pizza shop... many laughs, some tears, and lifelong memories for sure.

Meeting Rich was a life event for me. This store clerk selling me a Christian Cassette tape in his record shop turned out to be the host of a local radio Christian show and that meeting would bloom into a friendship that while not without its rough moments, over time would be something very precious. Rich mentored me and became a spiritual father. I still find myself drawing from the things he poured into me over the years from what I would later learn to be a media Apostle but that office meant little to me as things got started, he was just a great man in my life at just the right time.

I worked at a Christian radio station in my early 20s. Mary was the office manager and great people like Bob would come in weekly to pray for and minister to all who wanted or needed it. My friend Rich would go on to be the General Manager there and played a big role in seeing me hired. What God did in that season would in many ways pattern my entire media ministry moving forward.

I didn't get to know my wife's dad for long. He passed away when we had only been married for four years but he did get to hold our oldest son when he was an infant and I will never forget how it made him radiant with the biggest smile. He was a proud grampa to be sure. Holding Lori in my arms and telling her that he dad had slipped into eternity was something I will never forget. Some twenty years to the day I would watch my wife's mom proceed her husband into eternity.

Everyone I have mentioned so far in this blog has already passed away. One by one these and many other precious souls have been greeted by the Lord's voice comforting them with assurances of "well done".  While there are days I really miss my old friends, it reminds me to celebrate those who are special and still with us here on this side. 

We took Isac back to college for his second year yesterday. It's hard to put into words the bittersweet feelings of seeing what Wayne Watson calls "the watercolor ponies ride away" as those little babies grow into toddlers, then teens, then young adults. It's so joyful watching them blossom in the new seasons of their lives but it's mixed with the bitterness of the undeniable that they are not ever going to be little like that again and my role as their father has matured into a new and different season yet again.

Like millions of fathers before me I find myself looking in the mirror and seeing the eyes staring back at me washed with recent tears of both joy and sorrow. The previous memories are priceless jewels that I would never trade for anything while at the same time a divine seed of curiosity has sprouted in my heart. The future is indeed very bright, especially in the backdrop of those who have gone before whose earthly history with me has reached its end. 

The empty nest is never really empty. Memories grow voices that speak loudly and bring waves of emotions with themselves. Through it all I am convinced of a few things.

I am truly one of the most blessed men alive today. I have walked with those who this world was not worthy of and have seen and been part of the indescribable as a result. I also hold to the expectation that new memories await. New lives will be touched, new hearts will be healed, new relationships will be discovered and the thread through it all is the Holy Spirit. Countless times when I have come to the mental or emotional end of myself I find the eternal spirit waiting patiently for me like an old friend. He is the stability in the oceans of uncertainty for me and He can be that same thing for you too!

While I am really excited about the future with family and present (and future) friends, my message to those who have gone before is best encompassed by Wiz Khalifa. It's been a long day without you my friend, but I'll tell you all about it when I see you again. 

I remember... and so do you,

​M-