Cigarette Smoke

I talked to my new friend Tyler the other evening while sitting outside at Brixx. I really love being outside in the spring and summer and fall. I love when the weather is just right for eating outside and taking in all the sights and sounds and smells of a warm evening. I even love the smell of cigarette smoke in the air. Weird huh? When I was a kid I was never around anyone who smoked, except for when we were out for fun special occasions. You know, like major league baseball games. amusement parks, camping trips, or outdoor anything. So I love the smell of cigarette smoke outside because my memory of it was always a happy fun moment in life. And since smell is such an important part of my memories, one familiar smell wafts by and I am back on vacation! So I was having a soaking it in kind of moment last week with the ambiance and the company, feeling like I was on vacation. Other people were there with us, but Tyler and I were swapping stories and a little absorbed in our own conversation to notice much of anything else that was going on. I loved hearing his story. Looking at his life from my perspective, from the outside looking in, it was fun to see God at every turn. He told me about his childhood, from the tough season as a little kid while his parents divorced, then the remarriage of his parents to other people, leading to a more peaceful life for him, to his being around the privileged and prestigious political crowd and the amazing opportunities that stemmed from that. But then there was the part of the story about his time at Lenoir Rhyne college in Hickory N.C., that would change him forever. He had a college professor named Dr. Joe that took Tyler under his wing. He didn’t realize that’s what was happening. Tyler just thought he had a part time job and was helping an old man out, but as the years went on it became evident that Dr. Joe was pouring his life into Tyler’s on purpose. Tyler was not doing too well in his class and always arriving late, but the professor saw something in Tyler that he felt was worth investing in, so Dr. Joe asked him to come work with him in his office. I believe that those things don’t happen by accident. I believe God orchestrates dynamics like this and I believe Godly men like Dr. Joe who live in awareness and are attentive to God’s spirit, respond appropriately. I know God did this on purpose. I loved hearing Tyler’s story and seeing God move in his life even as a kid to mold him into who he is today. And who he is today is the answer to the prayers I prayed a long time ago that God would put in love with God sort of people and leaders in my kids life to help them become the world changing in love with God sort of people they were meant to be. So I love Tyler’s story. But here’s what I also loved about his story and a commitment I walked away with from that evening. I want to be the best most effective non-insecure old person that I can be. Dr. Joe was old and blind and crippled, and seemingly from our world’s standards, too old for much of anything, but still chose to pour life and purpose into someone else. To me it was a Hollywood movie, this old man taking the time to mentor and guide this young kid to greatness. He could have felt like he’d “been there done that” and it was his time to retire and relax, but he couldn’t help being who he’d been his whole life and that was a “see the bigger picture, live outside yourself, live beyond the moment” kind of guy. He just couldn’t help but pass on what he believed about life and God. I LOVE that! I decided at that moment that I would be the coolest and best, most confidant old person that I could be. That even though I would be wasting away on the outside that I would be full of life and purpose on the inside. I hope I can’t help it!