A visit from an old friend

I spent the first six years of my ministry working mostly with Junior High and High School students. A few nights ago, one of my former students from Cleburne who was home after finishing his second to last semester at Mizzou came to Mansfield to have dinner with the family. Chris and I had not connected in several years since he is attending school so far from home. He said he actually had not been home to Texas in almost two years because of the distance. It was great to reconnect with him and hear how is doing and what plans he is making for the next phase of his life. The picture below is of Chris and my daughter Anna during our evening out.

Chris was one of my most active students while he was in High School, and though I never would have admitted it publicly at the time, he was one of my favorite kids. He spent a lot of time over at our house during those years and almost became a member of the family. [He certainly ate his fair share of meals during those years. Most of the time he devoured our leftovers whenever he came over.] Seeing Chris the other night reminded me of so many great years spent doing youth ministry in a small town like Cleburne where you get the chance to connect with families and the entire community has the sense that the kids of the community are “their” kids. I wish every minister had the chance to start ministry in the way I did in that community. I think I will always remember it as some of the best times in ministry. Certainly it will always be a time I hold dear because it was where I started in ministry and where my wife and I started out as a newly married couple.

Chris was planning on attending medical school, but is now looking at continuing his education in a Masters of Public Health program. He shared with me that he is now more interested in dealing with the “root issues” of health such as cancer or aids research and focusing more on international health. His heart for missions has inspired him to want to work in the area of health on a global scale. He decided on this slight change in career path because of his connection with a small group at the church he has gotten involved in while at school. He’s shadowed some of the doctors and other medical practitioners in his church and learned more about his interests because of that interaction. As a part of this program, he will spend some time in the peace corps. He’s been dating a girl from Mizzou for a while now who recently graduated and is also active in the church. I think he’s minoring in Spanish at Mizzou and in the front seat of his car was an NIV study Bible that was a spanish translation.

If you’ve ever worked in youth ministry, you’ll be able to connect with this statement. I am honored to be a part of Chris’ life. I’m honored that in some small way, the paths of our lives have crossed and he took the time to come spend an evening with my family. I don’t even have the words to express how proud I am to be a part of his life.

Before Chris left the other night, we pulled out some baby pictures of Anna to show her a picture of Chris holding her in the hospital. We had told her that Chris knew her from when she was a little baby, but it was really neat to see her face light up when she recognized him in the picture.

God weaves our lives together in ways that can only be appreciated when we recognize his grace present in our lives and in our world. My heart has been warmed this week reconnecting with Chris and thanking God for the incredible things God has done in his life.