Welcome to MoMo’s! HERE are the guidelines. If this is your first time giving your “amazing story”, PLEASE take time to read them. It will save us both a lot of time.

To join me, write a post today (or a post you’ve written from last Monday to Sunday) sharing something tht has happened to you this last week - anything funny or interesting, crazy, fulfilled, too busy, hilarious, wistful, or any number of out of the ordinary happenings that made you happy or miserable last week.  Put a link in your post to this post permalink (not my general URL) and then put the permalink of your post (not your general URL) here at the end of this post. Thanks.  By the way, I do this because I love stories.  To tell them, to hear them, and to read them.

So tell me your “Inspired by the truth” story every Monday…

Here’s mine.

Last weekend, my wife and I took a trip to my hometown.  I already posted some of the thoughts I had on our visit.  But the following is the story of why I went and what I experienced in one main point.

I received an email from the wife of my former youth pastor last month who told me of an old friend of ours who had lung cancer and who didn’t have very long to live.  She had heard of a benefit dinner their church and friends who hosting for them at the end of March for some financial needs they were having as a result of Bob’s sickness.  She wanted to know if I would consider attending.

I didn’t have to think long.

There are certain people who go through your life and are here and gone, that might leave a passing mark but who will fly as quickly from your mind as they came into it.  Bob was not one of those people.  He was always at church with a smile, telling me “I could do it,” and brightening my day each and every time I saw his wife and him.  He encouraged my service for God any creative way I wanted to serve Him, even if it meant disrupting the lives of a few old conservative churchgoers in Rural Ohio.  And he fixed my car.

My first car was a Pontiac 1000 (not a Chevette), and I paid a whopping $300 for it from a friend of my dads.  My best friend Clay and I worked hard to make a sound system out of a 6 speaker box from the 70′s and a tape cassette walkman that Clay hardwired into the car.  The first tape we played was Petra’s “This means War.”

About 2 months into the infatuation period between my car and me, the red clunk broke down. I had very little money and no car knowledge, but Bob stepped up and said that he’d fix my car, and all I’d have to do was pay for the parts.  The cost for my parts came to about $2 less than I had at the time.  ($36)

Bob was at church and at youth group, where he helped the youth pastors faithfully for several years every Sunday with a smile and a word of encouragement.  And now he was in need…and sick…

It didn’t take me long to think.

I talked to Carie, who said that it would be an okay weekend for us to go back to the homeland, and I booked to airline tickets, apparently just in the nick of time.

There’s a lot I could talk about now, like the 50 people or so that I hadn’t seen in about 15 years, who meant so much to me, many of whom had poured their life into my own.  Or the new church that Bob and his family attend now, that I believe is making a tremendous impact in this small community for Christ, and that found it in themselves to host this amazing event for a family in need.

But I think I’ll focus in today on being able to fly over 1000 miles across 3 states, and see someone who had poured there life into mine for what now seems to be such a brief season, and be able to tell them (and show them) how much they meant to my life, and how much his example showed me how to follow Christ in a way that I believe Christ wanted to be followed – quietly, humbly, joyfully.  It was also important to me to look into his eyes for what I knew would be the last time and share with him just exactly what he meant to me.

It’s my opinion that we all need a Bob in our life. It seems that we have plenty of people who are constantly talking, convincing, prodding, and even sharpening.  But we also need a Bob – someone who quietly and gently just loves God and us with a smile that could encourage a baptist to clap.

Now, I’d love to hear your story.  Read the guidelines.  (if you don’t know how to particpate in a blog carnival) and let’s swap some stories.

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I received news yesterday that has really got me thinking. Please allow me to elaborate.

Before I go into my news, let me just say that one of the things that really inspires me is the 6th man.  For those of you who are not big sports fans, the 6th man is the basketball term for the man or woman who does not start, and is not necessarily the biggest “star player” on the team, but they frequently come in and assert their importance in the way they play their role.  That role may be a 3 pointer, or rebounding, or blocked shots, or even scoring field goals (not through the uprights), but there is no doubt that they a)make a huge impact and b)are in the game for a very specific task.

Some examples of great 6th men are Kevin McHale, Bill Walton, Dennis Rodman (pre-skirt days), Leandro Barbosa, and others who I will no doubt be chastised for forgetting.

So yesterday I received some news that a close friend of my family had been diagnosed with lung cancer.  His name is Bob.  Bob lives in Fremont, Ohio. 

Bob is an amazing guy who always has a smile on his face.  Bob and his wife Judy helped out in the youth group at our church growing up.  They were not the youth pastors, but their impact was widespread.  They invited teens into their home and let them play and eat and hang out and be kids, and never asked anything of them.

If you needed to talk, Bob was there.
If you needed a hand fixing your new “used” red Pontiac 1000 (honestly, it wasn’t a chevette), Bob was there.
If you needed a ride when the 1000 broke down, Bob was there.
If the youth group needed a place to hang out and play games, Bob was there.
If the youth pastor needed a task to be done, there was no doubt that Bob was there.  Probably smiling.

Bob was never the star, but he was always accomplishing his role – the task God had given him to accomplish in his life during that time.  It was a great lesson for the son of a pastor in a small town in Ohio who would eventually become a pastor himself, but not before sitting in an assistant position for 10 years.  It was a great lesson for me.

Not everyone is the “star”, but the truly special people of this world are the ones who are not, yet shine brighter than everyone else.  This story reminds me of a story that Buddy told about a “6th man” in his church in New York.

Who has been an example of the stellar “6th” man in your life?

Until next time…

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