I closed my last post by saying, "Be thankful for those wonderful people that once mattered so much in your life, even if they no longer do."
I'll start. Here are some of the many people who once mattered to me, how I am thankful, and what I would like to say to them if I could find them. They were an important part of my life, even if only for a brief time.
Dear Mrs. Terrill - I enjoyed your "Tiny Tots" Sunday School class. I always looked forward to Sundays. I remember I was so excited to get new "Sunday School socks" so that I could look nice sitting on the rug in your front row. I thank you for the time you invested in my mother over the decades and even now take the time to encourage her when she leans on you. I am glad to hear that you and your family are still serving the Lord and that John and Tim are raising faithful families. I think I will get your address from Mom and write to you.
Dear Miss Cochrane - You recognized my memory skills very early on and took a special interest in me. You challenged me and I thank you for it. I didn't memorize Psalm 23 for that bag of marbles but for the challenge you offered. You got to know all of your Sunday School students personally, visiting each one at their home regularly. I remember you taking me to breakfast at McDonald's one Saturday morning and I cherished the Tweety Bird glass, a memento of our visit. Thank you for making me feel like I was talking to someone who was actually interested in what I was saying and who came down to my level. Even if I was just a four-year-old boy babbling about my square-toed cowboy boots and how I was soon going to get a pair of pointy-toed cowboy boots, you rejoiced with me. You made me matter to you, and for that reason you mattered to me.
Dear Mr. Hope - Twenty years after I last saw you, I met a pastor who knew your name and reported that you were still faithful. I thank you for your hard labor in the van ministry and how you made riding with you fun and exciting - not focusing on fun on the van, but rather helping us look forward to the services in God's house. I thank your for your testimony of purity. I remember in my mind picturing you literally "kick the TV out of the house" as you said, because of the trash it showed in the 1970s. I wonder what you think about the trash on now! I remember your constant smile, unashamed of your missing tooth because you had the joy of the Lord.
Dear Mister - I'm sorry I don't know your name. I could find out from Marge, but it doesn't matter now because you have a new name in Heaven and I will see you there. I always enjoyed your music at church. You could've easily had a lucrative music career, but you used your deep, rich voice to honor Jesus instead. What a testimony! You found out I was laid up in the hospital with a skull fracture and you came to visit, play your guitar and pray with me, even though we had not been to church with you in probably over a year. Your thoughtfulness meant so much.
Dear Miss Crockett - Of all your third grade school students, you were hardest on me because you could tell I needed it. Yes, I am still falling far short of my potential, but just a little closer to it thanks to you. I enjoyed our visit a few years ago in the nursing home and I pray for you to recover fully.
Dear Pastor E.S.R. - I wandered along and found you being faithful and mature, right when I needed to know what that looked like. You welcomed me in with all my youthful ignorance and patiently moved me forward by your example and direct application of God's Word. I must've been like a bull in a china shop, but you just moved all the china out of the way and kept me where I wouldn't hurt anything. Thank you so much. You are appreciated in so many ways and by so many people more than you realize. You don't know how many people I've run into that had kind things to say about your ministry to them.
Dear Pastor Gee - I only spoke with you a few times but I remember it fondly and found your counsel wise, helpful and encouraging. I took your advice and God blessed it greatly.
Dear Pastor Basinger - I hope to see you at the conference in Wisconsin some time so I can thank you in person for your hospitality to entertain this stranger and your later counsel and encouragement through a difficult ministry transition. Your testimony of standing strong though it cost you many friends was a life lesson for me. You faced slander and gossip and responded in the Spirit, not the flesh. Though our time together was the briefest of days while I travelled in Florida, you showed me a glimpse of what the faithful shepherd looks like.
Dear church members and ministry friends from the past - I love you dearly and would do anything for you. I owe you all so much and miss each one. I am in the phone book if you need anything or just wish to say Hi. I praise God I don't have to hide from anybody and I hope nobody's hiding from me.
Dear Pastors I knew in 2012 and 2013 - God always used you to say exactly what I needed to hear, exactly when I needed to hear it. You don't know what a blessing you were and how God spoke through you. I hope I adequately expressed that to you when we said our goodbyes before we moved away.
Dear Michael Anthony Hayden - You will be the one exception to my statement that these are people I am no longer in touch with (since we only see each other once or twice a year). I was backslidden and you would be my friend but refused to join me in my sins. I never told you how convicting that was. There were lines I would've crossed, which would've ruined my life, but I didn't cross because of your influence and testimony. You saved my life and my future usefulness in ministry and you don't even know it. You claim I have been a good friend to you in your hardest times for 22 years, but I simply owe you that and much more for our first few years together. I can't explain how God used you in my life and you don't even realize it, just because you were simply being true to your convictions in spite of pressure. God bless you, Buddy!
I am all choked up now and shed enough tears of thanksgiving today, so I'd better stop here.
I LOVE PEOPLE BECAUSE JESUS LOVES ME !!!
Victor E. Mowery
10-16-2014
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