Long distance call from Korea

So early this afternoon, I am standing in the office of Patrick Mead, our pulpit minister, when my cell phone begins to ring. I look at my phone and see this really long number that doesn't remotely resemble any phone number in the US. Not sure who it is, I decide to answer. Maybe it's one of those guys from Africa who keeps emailing to help transfer a bunch of money. (Do you get emails from them too?)

Anyway, I pick up the phone and on the other end of the line a voice asks for me. I respond that this is Jason and this voice tells me it's Cary. Now you have to understand, Cary and I are friends from college. Not college as in Harding back in the late 90's. This is a friend from my Case Western Reserve University days (1988-1992).

Cary and I ran together for student government back in the day. Cary was the candidate for Student Body President and I was the candidate for Vice President of Finance. We, together with one other person, ran as a ticket of three. Without boring you with all of the details, we survived several political scandals and emerged victorious, defeating the ticket that everyone thought would win. Later, Cary went on to pledge and join the fraternity I was a part of, Beta Theta Pi. So we have history.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about the phone number. Cary was calling me from South Korea, where he is an executive for an energy company. He was calling me in the middle of the night during his "connect with the States time," which is somewhere between midnight and 4:00am. (Isn't technology cool that a friend from over 16 years ago can call my cell phone from Korea?)

What a great phone conversation we had. We talked about a variety of things, but a significant portion of the call was Cary asking about my faith journey. How did I go from being a non-believing, fraternity guy in the early 1990's to a minister today? It was refreshing to have a chance to tell my story. It reminded me of how far God has brought me.

Sometimes when we are in the middle of living life, we forget where God has brought us to. In the midst of stress, family, work, finances, and so much more, we can miss seeing the big picture. I never want to be caught looking in the rear-view mirror so much that I miss opportunities to grow, learn, and move forward. However, there is value from time to time in taking a breath, pulling out the spiritual "scrapbook," and looking at what God has done.

Cary, thanks for the chance to be reminded of God's faithfulness.

shine!
Jason