Homecoming

John 15:16-17

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so thatwhatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.  This I command you, to love one another.

Thought for the Day:   Remember those who were special to you earlier in life, and thank them.

Coming to my beloved Camden where I grew up is always special and sometimes emotional.  Last night I had the opportunity to attend the Homecoming Football game.  The sound of the crowd, the cheer that I remember from when I was young, the black and gold football uniforms, the cheerleaders with their black and gold pompoms, and homecoming royalty took me back over forty years.  When I first arrived, I saw and spoke to a dear friend and went to stand where I could watch for another sweet friend who was coming to the game.  After a couple of minutes, I realized that where I was standing was the same place I stood as I watched the games so many years ago, right in front of where the cheerleaders cheered….including my brother Ricky who sat cheering from his wheelchair.  What touched me the most, I think, were the three men I chatted with.  Bobby “Flash” Melton was the one who told me it was Homecoming and that I should come to the game.  We did not know each other except through my family when we lived here but he was very big in helping my brother, Ricky, find true happiness in working at the radio station sharing his love for sports.  He is a very special man to the town of Camden.  Jerry Stegall was much older than I when we lived here but I remember him very well as one who loved my family and my family loved him.  I remember him playing the guitar and singing in the most beautiful way.  He was probably the first person I ever saw play the guitar – maybe that is why I learned to play a few years later.  The third man I talked to was Dean Emerson.  I did not know him at all when we lived in Camden as he lived in a totally different place and he was much younger than I.  We met because his sister and I were college roommates.  But, Dean is now the pastor at Camden First United Methodist Church where my daddy was those many years ago.  He has become a great pastor and that “kid” from so many years ago is another great example of Christ.

I did not know when I entered the Camden Lion Stadium last night what was going to happen.  My personality almost turned me around many times as I got dressed, as I drove, as I parked, and as I walked to the gate.  I was nervous as I didn’t think I would know anyone.  But what a blessing to sit by my dear friend, Martha Holifield and her family and then to run into these three men.  Three men who I didn’t even know well, or didn’t know at all, were three who have become very special friends the last few years on Facebook, and who in their own way have touched my life in a huge way.  Three men who live with Jesus in their heart and they show Jesus through the way they live.  God has used them in a special way and it is remarkable that they were the ones I ran into during one High School Homecoming Game.

Prayer:  Father God, thank you for unexpected meetings. You bring people together who need each other and you bring people together in interesting ways.  Thank you for Godly, faithful, people who show you to the world in spectacular ways.  You are awesome God.  Amen.

Prayer Focus:  Those Remembering the past