I heard an amazing sermon by one of our missionaries home from Tanzania and he used the baton drop in the 1988 Seoul Olympics 4/40 relay to impress deeply into me the array of people that have direct impact and influence on my life to bring me to this LZ (landing zone) as our 2015 gets underway. When you really stop and think about specific people that have entered your life both for long term and short term points on the journey and drill into specifically what each brought, their baton to you, it is those crucial hand offs of life that define who we really are, right?
At sixty-six years old, it is hard to focus on all the batons handed off to me but with each hand off is the implicit reality that I, as the recipient of the baton, has the challenge and responsibility to find ways to hand my special and unique brand of my baton to others with that same reality of believing each person you touch will then move down their pathway handing off to others. So the issue is less about the baton itself but more in the hope, belief and expectation that what you hand off is worthy of passing ahead.
So many names bubble from my heart that have brought me to this moment of my life in just being able to type these words coming onto this screen. I hope this blog will inspire each reader to seriously think about those that have handed you their baton and exactly and specifically what it was about that person and that hand off that was so vital to the whole life journey. So I guess the core question is something like, what are the elements of my life today that define who you are and from where did that element derive from and how?
For me, today, many that know me would say music defines me. I know beyond a shadow where that baton was given me and her son is on FB with me. Mrs Ruth Epley was a major force in my early years in creating a love for God's music. She was a taskmaster in the teaching and expectation which, if you know me, know I need that type discipline. That love for singing was further fueled by my grammar school principal, Mrs. Wright that complimented me in the four grade telling me God would always use my voice if I would let Him. Then later was Ms Tatum in high school and she broadened my love for music and taught me to appreciate music as an art form of expression. In my more recent years, Ms Sharon Rohrer at my church has had major impact on my music in sharpening the technique of singing, listening to parts, dynamics, etc. All those women at different points of my life with music as the nucleus have given me a baton of loving to sing God's praises to people that need and want the message of the song at church, in prisons and jails, assisted living locations, etc. Such a blessing for me and I believe the real blessing resides in seeing God's Hand ease, calm, soothe a troubled soul in the midst of terrible chaos in their lives. So it is I that gets the real blessing! Others touched my life musically but this quartet of women were crucial to the joy I get to savor today. I am blessed!
My salvation is in spot number one in my life and two people share that stage of my life. Mr. Glenn Avery and Mrs Zeddie Morton were so unbelievably crucial to me hearing, feeling and understanding the love Christ had for me at a young age. So many times I wish I could have spent more time with them in my adult years but I know that time will be afforded in Heaven.
Work ethic came directly from my mother for her mantra was embodied by what she would say to me often ... " do your job so your boss likes it and he will always take care of you .." That is not always true in operation but the concept of her mantra prepared me to always give my best and my all what whatever I did be it in work, in basketball, in singing, in life. Work hard, stay focused and never giving up is a triad of success I believe regardless of who you are or what you aspire to be or become. IT TAKES WORK and never seek to avoid the process even when painful. Learned all of that from my mother in eighteen years of life.
Two men affected my life for life both of which are in Heaven now. Both were gentle, caring, encouraging, giving and made me want to be better. Lamar Berry and Joe Cowan are two men that touched my canvass with their very special brushstrokes of values. I saw in them both men of character, great men of faith, lovers of their wives and their children in Randy, Ann and Anita. When I think of Mr. Berry I think of basketball for he saw potential in me at a very young age in the church basketball leagues and pushed and taught me the fundamentals of the game. I loved him so very much. Joe Cowan was on of the most gentle men I have ever known not realizing until years later that he was a WWII Marine that saw tough combat. Oh how I wish I could have a day with them both just to talk. Joe taught me the love of fishing. I want to believe, since he had two great daughters, that maybe I was that son he did not get to have; he taught me as a father would teach; through example. I am blessed!
I love leadership and the science and the art of leading and love to study leaders. I have had the joy of working for some great ones but would say Jerry Butcher at Goodyear and Bill Sharp as well jointly taught me so much about effective leadership. The learning not always user-friendly but the learning was invaluable. When I think about each leader I ever had, many of them gone now, I learned something from each whether I actually liked them or not but their brushstroke on my arsenal of leading is indelible. COL Alton Barnes, the Commandant at the Alabama Military Academy which is and Officer Candidate School that I chose to invest a year of my life in seeking a commission as an armor officer. In that year I got to be close to greatness as President of my OCS class in dealing with COL Barnes. A man I still communicate with via FB and email. His touch on my life is simply undefinable but his class, his poise and his commanding presence all honed me for the years ahead. He is simply amazing!
Many pastors have touched my life with three that have touched me more deeply than others would be Tim Heijermans in Luxembourg, Mike Frazier, my current pastor, that is simply amazing at his preaching skills and leading of a large complex organization and thirdly would be Pastor Neal Wheeler that I have come to love and appreciate so much for his frankness to preaching God's Word. Again, I am blessed!
I will close this baton hand off blog with the person that knows me better than any other, has never said no to a change in our lives, is amazing as a mother and a grandmother but especially as my wife. Alicia Stone is a girl that had her pick of men but she will tell you quickly that God led us to be together for life. A true Southern lady that is caring, loving, giving, supportive, encouraging and helpful; yes, I am blessed. Forty-four years together is a miracle in these days of our world but the journey has been worthy and I had to take this moment to thank her for her baton hand off to me. Two children, both married to Godly spouses with five amazing grand kids; wow!
So many friends, so many people that have crossed my path and so many gone from this earthly walk but there is that special few that have crafted a pathway to this moment. To look forward to each day, to enjoy good health, to be surrounded by a close family, to still enjoy learning, to sing, to minister in places most people would not want to think about, to teach, to coach, to mentor to hundreds of students and with all that, knowing the best is yet to come; Yes, I am blessed!
So my challenge; do a baton hand off inventory and think deeply about how each has changed the course of your life. I heard a short but amazing prayer this morning which, simply, said, "God, change us.!" See, life is about change isn't it but change is manageable. To each of you, thank you for being part of my life. Basketball coaches, players, Goodyear and military leaders, students, prisoners, singers, preachers, teachers; see, the list becomes endless. But what an amazing list!
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