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August 13, 2009
Dear Church Family,
(Our second grandchild — and first grandson — John Lofton Caraway, was born in Lubbock, Texas, last week to our son and daughter-in-law, Jeff and Gina. We were privileged to be there for his arrival, as were Gina’s parents, Danny and Sharon Guy. Please indulge me this space as I write a note of welcome to my grandson.)
Dear John Lofton,
It was a great day last Monday, when you were born! I remember the day your first cousin, Samantha, was born 15 years ago. She is our first grandchild and we looked forward to that day for quite a while and when it came, it was sheer joy. That same feeling of joy filled our hearts when we first laid eyes on you.
You are very blessed with two parents who love you very, very much. You also have loving grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who are delighted in your coming and are eager be a part of your life.
John Lofton, I pray for my family each day and when I learned of your coming into our lives, I began praying for you. My prayer for you is the same I have had for “Gana” and your daddy and mommy and Aunt Amy and cousin Samantha for many years — that you walk closely with God.
What does that mean? Well, you first saw God in the faces of your mommy and daddy. God has filled their hearts with so much love for you they’ll do whatever they can to make your life full and safe and challenging.
I pray that each teacher you meet will be someone God has called to do just that — teach. (“Gana” is that type of school teacher … called by God for special service..) Teachers whom God has called come to us in many places and at various times to teach us what “walking with God” is all about by the way they, themselves, live.
In your walk with God, we will try to teach you right from wrong. We will be with you as you grow in faith as well as knowledge. You will not only be loved, but you will be shown how to love. You’ll make mistakes, and you’ll know forgiveness; and because others will make mistakes around you, you will need to learn how to forgive, as well. We want you to be filled with wonder and ask lots of questions. We want you to know that all are loved by God, and since God is our heavenly Father, these are your sisters and brothers, regardless of how they look, what they do, or even by what name they call God. Each person you meet should be treated with respect and kindness.
The good that you will do will make life better for all people because God is in your heart and you have been taught to listen.
John Lofton, welcome to the world! You’ve lit up our lives! I hope you find this world to be a good place. It is not in as good shape as we found it, but it is worth saving. We pray that you and those your age are up to the task.
I love you. And as long as I have breath, I’ll be here for you.
Pop
July 23, 2009
Dear Church Family,
Upon returning to the office from vacation this morning, I found this insightful essay in my mail. Written by our own Jim Henderson, I wanted to share it with you, with the author’s permission:
Now and Then
God is revealed to us in our daily dreams and in other ways, giving to some of us wisdom and insight into the future. This is called prophecy, which is accepted by some and ignored by others.
In today’s society, many of our people are addicted to drugs which can cause mental deficiency and even death. Others are addicted to alcohol which can cause family and financial problems as well as problems with our laws. Some are addicted to tobacco which may cause a decrease in our life span or longevity. Each of these addictions may shorten our life, and life is short enough without encouraging death. Why would one encourage death? With the passage of time, our society has divorced itself from wisdom and by not being true to ourselves, many are guilty of infidelity. Such is today’s society and if we were to create a motto or philosophy for life I can imagine it would include addiction, divorce, and infidelity.
Decades ago when the great generation was marching toward manhood, it’s possible that our friends, family, and loved ones held a motto or prophecy for life in their hearts and minds which included morality, sobriety, and integrity. If these two mottos or philosophies were compared or placed parallel to one another and debated by a jury of intellects, one would be declared a deflection of wisdom and gravity, meaning a deflection of accumulated wisdom and “far out.”
Centuries ago, Shakespeare told us the entire world was a stage and men and women were but merely actors upon that stage. Macbeth told us:
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day.
To the last syllable of recorded time;
all our yesterdays have lighted fools
the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
that struts and frets his hour upon the stage
and is heard no more: It is a tale
told by an idiot full of sound and fury.
Signifying nothing but hope.”
Hope can lead us down the correct highway of life; and hope can help us stay on the correct highway of life. Those of us who value our morals, our country, and the good life for our coming generations, hope for a new breeze blowing in the right direction.
Thank you, Jim.
(For those who do not know him, Jim is Mangum’s longest-tenured member and turns 92 this fall.)
I’ll see you in your place this Sunday.
Steve Caraway
July 8, 2009
Dear Church Family,
Merry Davis found this in her summer reading. She shared it with me and now I share it with you.
Worship changes minds.
Worship opens hearts.
Worship changes behavior.
Occasionally, we’ll have visitors in worship who normally attend another church, because — they say — “We had a guest preacher in our church this morning” and decided to try us out. I’m always glad to greet visitors but I think these folks have it all wrong. Their church family misses the opportunity to share with them the joy of worship. Their decision to dip their spiritual toe in other waters implies that they are seeking something when, in fact, worship is all about giving.
To paraphrase Rick Warren: “It is not about us.” In worship, it is all about God Who is in the audience as we stand on stage and direct all energy toward God in praise and thanksgiving.
Why? Because we must acknowledge the “One from Whom all blessings flow” if life is to have any meaningful perspective.
The next two Sundays, while we are on vacation, you’ll have the splendid opportunity to follow Jerry Shelton, and Curtis Williams as they lead you in worship. From experience, we know they preach from their hearts and give us much to inspire us. And, Jo Ann Williams will lend her outstanding musical talent to us.
Remember, they will lead you in worship. What they say and do and how they say and do it is not nearly as important as to why.
I expect you to be in your place the next two Sundays.
Steve Caraway
June 18, 2009
Dear Church Family,
The day my Father’s Day thoughts took a dramatic turn was on the Wednesday in March our daughter was born. Until then, Father’s Day meant remembering the role my own father had in shaping me and offering him all the tributes due him on that day.
But on that day of Amy’s birth, amid reordering my life’s priorities, was the shift in emphasis from having a father to being a father. And while my expressions of gratitude for my father never ceased until his death twenty years ago, it was the responsibility of being a dad that dominated my Father’s Day then and ever since.
This year, though, I am thinking of those who have not had fathers present in their lives.
And I am thinking about those men who have been as fathers to other men’s sons.
In his book, Iron John, Robert Bly takes a collection of old Grimm Brothers’ tales of an ancient hairy man (“Iron John”) who mentors a young lad, leading him through adventure after adventure; and teaching him the passages a lad must go through to become a man. It’s an easy read, but it is prophetically deep.
Those who know me know that among my favorite writers is Frederich Buechner. His alcoholic father died a suicide death when young Buechner was ten. In one of his essays in his recent collection The Yellow Leaves, he writes that he never thought much about his father or even mourned him or even remember what he looked like. But, then, he wrote:
“… I [never] did think that there among the tall trees and brownstone buildings and green lawns (of the school he was attending) the most precious treasure I was to find was the whole flawed and touching motley of fathers who, in all likelihood themselves never thought for a moment that I would go on remembering in richest detail and loving them for decades to come.” (Buechner, The Yellow Leaves, 2008, Westminster John Knox Press, p. 56).
This Father’s Day, remember those men who were as fathers to you when you encountered the “rough patches” in your life’s journey. Coaches, school teachers, Sunday School teachers, pastors, family friends, uncles, youth group volunteers, etc., are all entrusted with the care and upbringing of those placed in their paths … if only for a little while.
I’ll see you in your place this Sunday.
Steve Caraway