Friends And Family (Russell Carr)

 Tonight's entry is from Russell Carr. our AD and boys' basketball coach at WCS. Russell is good at everything he does. The best thing he did was get Shara to agree to marry him and then allow me to preach the wedding! He has some thought provoking sentiments tonight. Please remember to pray for me in Vietnam.

I am a music fan, I can’t sing but I love listening to good singers and good music. I listen to a lot of classics and those songs from my teenage years that take back to a time or place. I am not really up the modern music but I was introduced to a pretty good country song a few days ago that has made me think. It is by Justin Moore titled “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away”. It is very catchy and talks about visiting heaven to see those that had passed and he would do it more often if heaven wasn’t so far away. As I was listening to the song I thought about a few people I would like to visit with again as well as allow them to meet my children. I made a mental list and even went so far as planned the time we might share-if heaven wasn’t so far away.

I would like to see my Pappaw Carr again. I would love for him to meet my children and for them to meet him. He passed before I was married so he never met my wonderful wife or my two children. He was one of my heroes. He was a man that others respected, they might not all have liked him, but they all respected him. He was a golfer, a baseball umpire, a professional baseball player, a husband, a war veteran, a father, and a friend. He taught me the importance of doing the right thing because its right, tell the truth no matter what, accept consequences and responsibility, and love your neighbor. He was a servant who was always trying to make himself and others better. He had a joy for people, a joy for life, and joy for every task he pursued. My kids would have loved him just as I did.

I would like to see my Mammaw Hamm again. She was the most gentle, loving, and caring person I have ever known. No matter the circumstance she would take you in, care for you and love you. She was a hard worker, a provider, a leader, a mother, and a friend. You could never question her spirit or her heart. She could easily have been taken advantage of, but in her eyes as long as it made you feel better she never worried about the motives. All her children and grandchildren can say she loved us each equally; which would be amazing for a normal person but not for her-she had enough love to share with us and everyone else she met. She was one of my heroes. My kids would have loved her just as I did.

I would like to see my friend Floyd Looney again. He died at a young age in a motorcycle accident. He was a legend in middle school. He was the greatest basketball player I have ever seen at that age. He was great and much better than the rest of us; we won because we had Floyd. His basketball was great but what made him different is he never made his teammates feel inferior. (Trust me-we were) He was a teammate, he was always smiling and never seemed to have a bad day. He never yelled at me because I wasn’t at his level. He played and you could see the joy in his eyes. He had true joy because even though the games ended the joy never left his eyes and face. I miss him. He was my friend. I would like to play with him one more time.

These were names of the first three people to come to mind at the time. The interesting thing about these people are the traits they seem to all share. They are loving, they have a joy about who they are and what they do, they serve others, they care about their neighbor maybe more than they care for themselves. I have learned a lot from these people and it took a country song for me to remember who they were but more importantly to remind me what they taught through their example. I will think of them often so I can teach these things to my children, because heaven is too far away.

Russell

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com