September 27, 2018 (Thursday)
Occasionally someone will remind me of something that may have happened many years ago. One of the perks of getting old is the fact that we have memories that span lots of decades.
I received a message on facebook from a lady that I knew as a child in Groesbeck. She and her younger brother were the children of Olen and Louise Waldrip who pastored the First Baptist Church there. I was the associate pastor of the church. I had not heard from her for 68 years, and all of a sudden I got a message from her. Our connection was centered around the Lord and His Church.
I went into an Aransas Pass pharmacy last year, and when I paid for my purchase, the cashier told me I had baptized her when she was a child. And she had some very nice things to say. Made me feel good.
I went with some church members for lunch at an Ingleside fast food restaurant and one of the workers told me, “You baptized me.” Again, she shared kind words.
Locally, just a few weeks ago, Dwight and I went to a local restaurant in Rockport and one of the servers, with a big smile, told me, “You baptized me.” Wonderful seeing her after all these years.
I try not to live in the past, but I don’t mind thinking about the good times of the days gone by, like the night at the end of a great revival meeting in 1967 when I baptized 47 people in the same service. There had been 97 professions of faith during the week, so I continued to baptize many of those folks in the weeks afterwards.
The joy of having someone come up to you and remind you of how God has used you in some way to be a blessing to him or her is an exhilarating experience. I’m sure that many who are reading this have had similar experiences. I well remember when Dale Pogue turned 80 there was a party for him and Ann here in Rockport, and the room was crowded with many people from places where they had served in the past, who traveled long distances to be present and let the Pogues know how much their ministries had meant to them. I was blessed by being there.
Since God blesses us through others, we are wise if we try our best to live by the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” Make many friends along life’s way. Do all you can to hold on to every one of them. Your life will be enriched thereby.