April 1 – “A final Jack Carr thought”

I had one more thought about Jack Carr as I pondered the time I got to spend with him.  And this particular character trait of his has been one that I have striven to emulate in all of my years of ministry.  Jack was just a regular guy.    He didn't serve in a big time TV church.  He didn't seem to have some huge driving ambition to preach in the Astrodome or to offer counsel to the president.  He enjoyed having fun.  He beamed with pride when his boys were happy and ached with them when the boys were in pain.  He always spoke of Delores as if she was an angel in disguise and never belittled her in public, even in the 70's, the era of can-you-top-this, "your-mama" putdowns.    And the thing is … the church – we - became his family.  The pride in our accomplishments was there.  He even seemed excited to drive all the way to Bay City to perform our wedding.  The deep empathy was there, even to the point of caring how I did on a test at school.  He desperately wanted us to make the right decisions, but knew he couldn't force them on us.    Those are all things a good Dad would do.  Those are all things a good pastor would do.  You know what?  He would have been the guy Paul would choose to lead one of those New Testament house churches.  I guess until today I never realized just how great an impact Jack really had on me.  See, I just described the kind of pastor – and the kind of man – that I want to be.  Thanks again, Jack.   Jeremiah 10:12-13 says, "But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.  When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.  He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses."   Father, there's so much about you we just don't get.  Never will I guess.  Be patient with our questions.  We trust you with our confusions.  Amen.