Tag: state parks

Posted in gratitude, life, Scripture, thankful, travel

Sock It To Me

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” Psalm 107:1

My sock had gone missing. Normally in my world a missing sock would only garner a yawn but this was different. You see, several years ago my daughter gave me some socks for Christmas. Again, normally not an exciting Christmas gift but these socks were different.  Their trade name is Bombas and they are definitely not Walmart priced. Let’s just say they cost more than I would ever pay. But the bottom line is they are way comfortable. I’ve never loved a sock before but that day I fell for them. Hence the loss of this sock was a big deal.

So we spent ten days at Topsail–a state park in Florida. Judy did a load of laundry and when we brought it back to our bungalow, I helped her fold everything. We folded this and we folded that and finally there was one item left–a lone Bombas sock.  Its mate had gone missing. So we first did a pretty through search of our cabin but to no avail. We then went down to the laundry mat to see if it had gotten left behind. Nope. It began to look like my beloved Bombas sock had simply disappeared. I was disappointed but hey…worse things had happened.

Judy told me that sometimes people, when they find things in the machine or dryer, will bring them back. Well, the next day we went back, twice, and no sock. It began to look like I was going to give it up or start a new trend of wearing one sock. Finally, on day three, we were coming back from somewhere and I told Judy that maybe we should check one more time. One.More.Time. So we did and when she came out…she was empty-handed. Bummer.

When she got to the car, I asked, “No luck?” Then, she smiled and pulled the sock out of her pocket. I was wowed. I was smiling. I was happy.  I was grateful–to my Dearest Daddy–for once again caring about the smallest of details…even a missing sock. Do I believe He was working on my behalf?  Absolutely. Do I believe He cares about missing socks? Yup–I sure do. You see…that is the kind of God He is.

Here’s the big truth for today. It isn’t that God cares about socks, it is that we should learn to be grateful for anything and everything that He does. Along with thanking Him for the sock, I asked Him to help me to never forget to be grateful. He is a loving God of the details and He is active everywhere. I hope we don’t forget that. By the way, I am glad the sock didn’t show you for three days–it made the blessing bigger. God’s timing is always the best and God is the God who gladly let’s us know, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne

Posted in food, friends, gratitude, life, loving others, Scripture, thankful, travel

Johnson’s Shut-Ins

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

 “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 

They were a hoot and a blessing.  My role as a full-time pastor began in 1983.  I had the privilege of pastoring the LaMonte Baptist Church in the small town of LaMonte, Missouri.  We had a population of several hundred people, a few dozen dogs, and life was good.  If you have ever watched “The Andy Griffith Show” then you can imagine life in LaMonte.  It was good living with a good bunch of folks.

A great example of those good folks were Leo and Opal Johnson.  They lived catty corner from the parsonage which sat right across the street from our church.  When we went to LaMonte, our family consisted of me, my wife Judy, and our two daughters—Rebecca and Jennifer.  Later, we added a dog named Sam.  Our daughters were two and three and that alone made life interesting.

I’m pretty sure God put the Johnsons catty corner from us for a good reason.  They were like family, kinda like an uncle and aunt, or maybe even a mom and dad and the truth was…we needed them.  You see, for whatever reason, our girls liked to take their clothes off—in the front yard—of the parsonage.  Judy and I never figured out why…they just did.  Sometimes it was to play with the water hose and sometimes it was just because.  At any rate, Opal would call us occasionally just to let us know that they had done it again and we would go out and fix it again.

Our dog Sam was really fond of the Johnson’s too.  Some mornings you could smell frying bacon wafting from across the road.  Opal was cooking breakfast.  Invariably, it was just about that time that Sam would have to go outside.  We finally figured it out that it had nothing to do with needing to go…it had to do with needing to visit the Johnsons.  Sam would go and scratch on their front door looking for some breakfast…which she always got. Yup, I think God knew we needed the Johnsons. They were an important part of our lives and when they were out of town…we sure missed them.

They were beyond faithful in attending church and I always appreciated that.  Sometimes, though, they were gone and often they went to see, “The Johnson Shut-Ins.”  Leo would come and say, “Pastor, we are going to the Johnson Shut-ins this weekend.”  I so appreciated their commitment to their elderly relatives.  I had never met that side of their family, but I was sure they were as nice as Leo and Opal.  Well, a while later, I found out that the Johnson Shut-ins weren’t relatives at all.  It turns out there was a beautiful park in Southern Missouri called, wait for it, “The Johnson Shut-ins.”  Here all the time I thought they were going to see their relatives and instead they were going camping.  It still makes me smile.

Leo and Opal were like family to us long after we left LaMonte.  In fact, when the time came for us to go, God just about had to pry us out of LaMonte and friends like them were a big part of the reason.  I love that God always knows just what we need.  Whether it was special friends or a new next chapter in the story of our lives…He always gets it right.

Not too many years ago, God decided it was time for Leo to go live with Him and it was my privilege to share at his service.  I spoke about faithfulness, loving God, cutting firewood, and a little dog named Sam who loved to eat breakfast with Leo.  I also told the story about the Johnson Shut-Ins.  I told the folks that day about a man and his wife who were a whole lot like Jesus and who always had time to share a little love.

We all receive many gifts throughout our lives.  Of course, none tops the greatest gift ever which is eternal life through Jesus.  You can’t top that one.  But always remember the greatest gifts aren’t bought in a store—they often live catty corner from us.  They are the people that God brings into our lives to help us as we journey through this life.  He knows we need Him, and He knows we need others.  God sends people to help build us up—to encourage us.  And He, well, He is always there too, ready to help because you know, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne