It won’t last. It won’t last long at all, so I had better enjoy it. Mitchell and I are at camp together this week, and he wants me to do everything with him. He invites me to eat with his friends, and join in his group for morning classes. He and I have our nightly debriefing right before lights out at 11:30 p.m. I fully realize that it won’t last. I am actually a part of the camp staff this…
Our local newspaper recently reported the impending retirement of the high school principal in our community. December 31st will end a long and very successful career serving the Granbury schools for Marcia Grissom. Her commitment as a public educator has spanned some 40 years. I could not be more saddened. And that is saying a lot for someone who spent more than his share on the other side of the principal’s desk a few years back. Mrs. Grissom is a…
It is the calm before the storm, and I am enjoying it immensely. I am sitting in my dorm room at camp in anticipation of being invaded by over 100 middle school boys in a matter of hours. I will be meeting and getting to know my counseling staff throughout the afternoon. One of my counselors from the high school session is back again this week. I asked him about his summer this morning, and received an unexpected reply. He…
If you ever make it to Granbury, you need to stop in at the Firehouse Café for breakfast during your visit. The breakfast special during the week consists of eggs cooked to order, toast or biscuit, and bacon and hash browns as well. I generally make in there on Mondays to eat with the DPS troopers and on Friday to discuss theology with the Firehouse Theologians. The clientele at the Firehouse is pretty diverse. There are men in there making…
My grandfather, Raymond Knox, died at age 36, when my dad was two years old. That was in 1928. A former student wrote a letter to my grandmother a few days after his death. I am now in possesion of that letter. The content of it indicates the kind of legacy I hope to carry on for generations to come. Here is the letter: Sylacauga, Alabama,June 22, 1928 Dear Mrs. Knox, This morning while on the train between Columbus, Ga….
I officiated at a funeral today for an exceptionally good Christian gentleman. He was just a fine man. In visiting with his family over the past weeks when he was hospitalized in Ft. Worth, I was most impressed with his children and grandchildren too. That does not happen by accident. He instilled good values in his children. I posed a question to those attending the funeral today. At what point to we become of age? At age 17, we are…
When I was an undergraduate student at Texas Tech, the fall semester of 1981 was not a stellar experience for me. That is actually putting it in very tactful terms. The truth is that Tech placed me on academic probation after the semester was over, so I dropped out of school for a period of time. I went to work fulltime for an AC/Delco auto parts warehouse in Lubbock. It was and still is a family owned business that two…
Are you at the end of your rope? Do you want to give up? I have noticed a pattern over the years. At the very moment I am ready to throw in the towel, God intervenes. Occasionally I want to throw in the towel, and get completely out of ministry. The expectations are beyond what I can handle on some days, and so I dream of being a stocker in a grocery store. Facing the green beans on the shelf…
I was informed by a well intentioned church member several years ago that as a minister I do not live in the real world. I think I know what he meant. His perception of my life as a minister is that I office in a church building. I deal with good Christian people through the course of my day. I don’t have supervisors or co-workers cusssing me, or telling off color jokes.I just don’t live in the real world in…
Several years ago I participated in a medical mission trip to Mexico. This particular trip to Ciudad Victoria marked my first visit to Mexico. It was not uneventful by any means. The customs officials were highly offended that one of our doctors had packed some drug samples that were out of date. We ended up trading a couple of cases of Dr. Pepper in exchange for immediate immunity from our infraction. Dr. Pepper is a rare commodity down there. In…