A few weeks ago, Steve Thomas and I started talking about building a prayer garden on Lewisville’s Salvation Army property that he manages. It is a perfect spot – the gateway to Old Town Lewisville, adjacent to the Main Street sidewalk, built around the 9′ tall cross we constructed last year. The cross is a reminder of God’s perfect love, and the prayer garden would be an invitation to come and spend time with Him.
The timing was terrible though. Steve was exhausted by relief efforts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. My salary had been reduced due to the economic uncertainty and I was simultaneously hit by unexpected, major home repairs. The crowds that used to flock to community serving events were all on lockdown in an effort to control the contagion. Outside work was nearly impossible due to the dangerously high summer temperatures in north Texas.
It was a perfect storm.
However, the more I thought about it and prayed for guidance, the stronger the calling became. In the midst of the storm, the need for God in our lives seems more evident than ever. When waves crash and lightning flashes, we instinctively raise our eyes to Him and pray for mercy. When miracles are needed, we reach out to Him.
My desire was to honor Him and build a beautiful place for Him to spend time with my neighbors. Ironically, only He had the money, the ability to provide the time, and power over the weather that were needed for my gift to Him. If I wanted to glorify Him, my first step had to be to trust Him to provide.
In faith, I stepped from the comfort of the boat into the storm raging around me.
The familiar story of Jesus walking on the water is told in Matthew 14:22-32. The disciples are alone in a boat in the middle of the night when a storm blows in. The strong wind and waves threaten to destroy them all when they see Jesus walking toward them on top of the storm. Peter stepped out of the boat and began to walk toward Jesus. However, he became distracted by his circumstances, took his eyes off of Jesus, and began to sink into the sea. Jesus reached out, lifted him up, climbed into the boat with him, and the storm stopped.
It is a story of Jesus’ total authority over this world. It is also a story of our power when we trust in Jesus. Peter’s display is impressive even if it was short-lived.
I imagine an alternate ending to the story. It begins the same way – the terrified disciples are in their boat which appears likely to capsize at any moment. Lightning tears across the sky, thunder booms, and waves crash violently into the tiny vessel. In fear, they hold onto their seats and the boat’s edge as tightly as possible, until Peter stands up and begins to climb out of the boat.
In this fictional version, John shouts out, “Peter, what are you doing?”
Peter looks back over his shoulder and replies, “This boat isn’t safe, I’m going to stand with Jesus.”
Then John stands up and grabs Peter’s arm to stabilize both of them as the boat rocks fiercely and says, “You’re right. I’m going with you.”
Realizing what they were doing, James shouts, “Wait for me!”
One at a time, each of the disciples releases their hold on the boat, locks arms together, and steps onto the sea. They walk together toward the Savior. At first cautiously, then inspired by their success, they let go of each other and dance in celebration as they come closer to Jesus. The empty boat bounces away in the background, no longer relevant.
In my fantasy, Peter never sank because his friends encouraged him in his faith. Together, they all walked on the water. Although these heroes didn’t actually stand together on that day, it wasn’t long before they did, facing threats much scarier than splashing water.
Building a prayer garden in this stormy season seems crazy. In many ways, I am doing well to keep my head above water. My faith is occasionally strong but as unreliable as Peter’s. I will admit to being scared as I took my first step with my eyes on Jesus. But my story will end like my fictional version above because of the strength of my friends.
When I first stood up, Kim stood with me. She never questioned our finances or how much time would be required. Always at my side, her eyes never left Jesus.
Although I had the concept to build a prayer garden, I had no vision of what it should look like. When I went on-site to brainstorm, Carra stepped out of the boat with me. Together, we developed a vision that is guiding us forward.
When I couldn’t see a pathway to achieve the vision, Steve Hermann climbed out of the boat. Cooperatively, we are mapping out the tasklist.
When the work seemed endless, Hank took his first step onto the water. In the melting heat, my partner has been there every step. The joy he brings assures me that he has kept his eyes focused on his redeemer.
When the mission required more hands, Columba and Steve Thomas stood and joined us. This weekend, we need to move 2,000 pounds of concrete benches into position. When the task sounded daunting, my friend Barron hopped out of the boat.
Others will inevitably join us until the protection of the boat seems absurd. As a family of believers, we strengthen each other to keep our eyes on God and trust him with our protection. The storm will pass sooner or later. My joy is in my Savior and my friends who share his spirit. Regardless of the storm, our future lies with him.
My dream is to look back and see an empty boat floating away, no longer needed by anyone.
One of my greatest blessings is the amazing people that God has placed in my life. Whether or not you are named in this short post, my thanks to you cannot be spoken enough. Your loyal support keeps me focused, and I hope that I offer the same to you. Encouraging each other, we realize that nothing is impossible. We walk on water today and we will soar with eagles tomorrow.
If you would like to join in the effort to build our prayer garden, there are a lot of jobs still to be done. After the benches this weekend, we install a large rock that flows water, then we lay ground cover, and finally plant all the greenery that makes it beautiful. If labor isn’t your thing, donations to Unashamed Missions are welcomed.
Prayer warriors, please come and christen the site. Our first bench is waiting for you.
Skill sets aren’t important, we welcome the passion that marks each Water Walker.
To see progress, the address is 206 West Main Street, Lewisville. Check it out!
I was in the front yard of the Salvation Army in Lewisville talking to Steve Thomas when my phone buzzed. We were excitedly making preparations to construct a Prayer Garden on Main Street and I had no intention of interrupting our discussion. I glanced at the screen to see who I would need to call back.
The name on the screen made me stop cold.
Polly Champion had been in declining health for weeks. In the first week of June, I was at her house when she had to go to the Emergency Room. Instead of the minor diagnosis that she had hoped for, she learned that her cancer had returned with a vengeance. The ensuing surgery left her in agonizing pain. The family had hoped for the best but had to call in hospice last week to manage her pain. As part of that treatment, they discontinued her daily dialysis. Her body was winding down.
If Polly’s daughter, LaSonya, was calling me, there was only one reason. I asked Steve’s forgiveness and stepped away to answer her call. She gave me the news that I dreaded was coming. Polly had passed away earlier that morning.
I muddled through the rest of my conversation with Steve, but the excitement was gone. I told myself that I knew it was coming. Polly was eighty years old and in poor health. I tried not to think about it, pushing down any other thoughts that surfaced and trying to stay distracted.
The next afternoon Polly’s other daughter, Lisa, called me. Her call showed up as “unidentified” so I let it go to voice mail while I continued my call on the other line. A couple of hours later I saw the notification and played back the message. Her recorded voice told me that she had called to make sure Kim and I had heard the news, “because you guys knew how mom loved you and she would really get onto us if we didn’t call you. You guys stay blessed and we love you because you are family.”
The torrent of emotions couldn’t be suppressed this time. It is an amazing honor to be called family by the Champions and I began to mourn Polly’s passing.
I don’t mourn for Polly. She would have never allowed that. She had been anxious to be called home to Jesus and receive her reward. I mourn for me because I miss her.
I met Polly in November, 2016. She lived alone in a small home that was built in the 1960s. It needed a series of basic repairs that I worked with the First Fruits team for two weekends to complete.
Following the same pattern as countless other workdays, I met with Polly before the workdays to ensure that I understood the tasks and her expectations. Afterward, I followed up with her to make sure things had been done properly and address any little things she still needed help with.
Little by little and visit by visit, our relationship moved past the chores and became an unlikely friendship.
I use the word unlikely because Polly and I don’t seem to have much in common, at least the way most people view life. I am still married, thirty years younger, and very active. She is retired, a lifetime local, and the matriarch of a sprawling, four-generational family. Our homes are eight miles away, but our communities seem worlds apart. Flower Mound is an upscale town full of new construction, while Old Town Lewisville is more down-home and diverse.
We have each grown where God planted us and frequently laughed at our differences. Friendships aren’t built on differences though. They grow out of common bonds.
Polly’s previous cancer attacks had exaggerated the unavoidable effect of time on her body. On each visit, we would take time to pray together, thanking God for his blessings and asking him to have sympathy for our suffering. Usually, I would lead the prayer. Polly is much livelier than me when we pray. She cries out to Jesus right in the middle of somebody’s sentence! Folks don’t do that where I come from, but she was always genuine and I think Jesus liked it. We enjoyed sharing time with our Lord together.
Sometimes she would call me while I was at the office. I always tried to answer. She would tell me if she was feeling sick and ask for my help because I was one of her prayer warriors. I had never seen myself that way, but she did. Polly looked past my present to see my potential the same way God does, and I loved her for that.
Polly was poor as most people viewed it. What I saw was a lady who had what she needed, provided by God at just the right time. She never seemed to have money in the bank but her bills seemed to get paid. Her refrigerator didn’t have a lot in it but she was never hungry. When her home required larger repairs, a local charity, Hearts for Homes, stepped in. God’s faithfulness was on display in her life.
For a long time, Polly thought that I worked for Hearts for Homes. She would call me to come over for all kinds of reasons, both big and little. Maybe it would be to fix a remote control that didn’t work. Other times she would tell me that she really hoped for new furniture for her living room. Whatever she asked for, I did my best to honor her request. I bet two years passed before she figured out that I just did those things because I liked her.
For the first time, I offered a “blank check” to someone who wasn’t my family by blood or in-law. Since Polly was clearly under the protection of the same God who provided all my blessings, it seemed proper to use what I had to meet any of her needs. She could ask me for anything and if it was within my power, she could have it immediately. She frequently exercised that right but never abused the privilege.
One time she called me to see if I had a new bulb for her bedroom TV because her screen wouldn’t light up anymore. Polly was prone to blinding headaches that could leave her confined to bed. On those days, her TV and old episodes of The Rifleman were her companions, so I considered it an important request.
I said, “Yes ma’am, I do have a light bulb for your TV and I’ll bring it over.” After hanging up, I asked Kim to buy a second-hand TV. When I carried it in, Polly asked why I had a whole TV when all she needed was a bulb. I told her “That’s how they sell TV bulbs now.”
After that, she used to say that if she ever needed something done right now, she could count on me.
Occasionally, I stopped by her house just because I needed to talk. Polly had wisdom and a manner about her that was refreshing. Although an army of family, friends, and neighbors seemed to wade through her living room, I never felt like an intruder. We would typically chat for an hour or two, but she would share as much time with me as I needed. I knew I could count on her.
Some of my best friends seem like unlikely ones. Our lives may not match, but they are complementary. We help each other to see the full palette of colors that our Father paints with. Some friends can understand exactly what I’m going through, while others help me to see life in a new way.
Polly always seemed to send me home with a new perspective.
It seems like I’ve lost a lot of people lately. Each of them was dear to my heart. Dealing with their loss has been like the pains of a phantom limb. In my mind they are still a part of me, but when I reach for them they are gone.
The wounds don’t heal quickly and a raw nerve gets bumped every so often. Part of me wants to hold onto my pain because it is all I have left of them. Another part of me wants to wrap thick bandages around every hurt place so I don’t feel anything. All of me hopes that my heart stays soft toward others even though suffering is inevitable.
May God provide comfort when the people I love seem too far away. May he listen to my news when the people I would normally run to can no longer hear my voice. May his presence be tangible on days when I need a friend.
Congratulations, Polly. You raised your family well. You were a vibrant part of your church and community. Your love ran deep and wide. You walked with your Lord through all of your days. All of these things are now yours for eternity, less all the sorrow and pain. You can finally stand face to face with the Savior whose Spirit has guided your life.
Until we meet again, I will do my best to preserve the unlikely friendships in my life, embracing our differences as part of God’s complete plan. At the end of my days when God calls me home, I will search the faces of all those who gather to greet me. I know that you will be there with your giant smile and an embrace that will let me know I am home at last.
On my trip to Tennessee a couple of months ago, Dad gave me Mom’s journalings. They aren’t a proper journal. She was wildly inconsistent in capturing her thoughts and only began the attempt at the age of fifty-seven. They are a jumbled assortment of stapled pieces of notebook paper, hotel notepads, sheets torn from a spiral notebook, and even a single entry that was carefully typed.
Mostly, she captured the events of the day or notes from a sermon. There are only occasional times that she opened up and shared what was on her heart. It is those glimpses into her soul that bring her alive again if only for a moment. Two of those entries are letters she wrote in 2010 and 2013 to her maternal grandfather.
The letters are the only time she used that format and are very similar to each other. She provided no insight into her motivation for writing them. The first letter is below but has snippets that I borrowed from her later note. I’m sure she would forgive me for the edits. If anyone wants to see the original, handwritten versions, a link is provided at the bottom.
Here is the letter, written by a sixty-seven year old grandmother to her grandfather, who had passed away forty-eight years earlier.
Dear Papa,
It’s been so long since we talked. But in my mind, it seems only a short time. I will always remain in my memory that child of 7, 8, or 9 sitting beside you on the pew alongside the deacons at Old Saline Baptist Church, a church with a 100-year old history probably even then.
You helped take offering and took part in the service but always came back to sit beside that insecure child who looked up to you so.
I can hear you now singing “The Old Rugged Cross” or “I Won’t Have to Cross Jordan Alone” and for those moments I was secure, sitting beside this man bigger than life, who loved me enough to bring me to church with him and let me sit beside him with all the other deacons, would keep his hand on my shoulder as the service concluded and I felt like somebody. I can’t remember the sermons but I’ll never forget being present with you in worship.
I’ll always be thankful to you and Mama as well that you raised my mother in that little church, in those traditions so that even when you no longer walked this earth with us or sat under the sweet-gum tree your daughter, my mother, carried on the traditions and love for our Lord. I sat beside her for the next 12-14 years before I married with that same feeling of love and security.
How many lives you formed through generations with your gentle, sweet spirit, humor that resonates with me today, love that spoke so loudly in your care for Mama who could not share with you for those last years of your life.
Thank you Papa for the heritage you left, the example you lived for us to emulate. I pray it won’t die in my watch because I fail to pass it along to our grandchildren.
I regret that our grandchildren won’t have the same memories somehow. Times have changed and though many things are better those relationships are a real loss. The greatest consolation is that I’ll cross Jordan sometime in the not so distant future. I can’t wait to hear you sing The Old Rugged Cross again one day. I’ll recognize your voice before I see your face.
Love you, Papa, Jan
After reading this letter, I set it down and imagined my mom as a little girl. I was sad that she was insecure and didn’t always feel like she was “somebody”. I hoped that I made her feel the same way that Papa did, but worried that I abandoned her to insecurity while I focused on myself. God spoke to me in that moment and told me that it was OK. This letter wasn’t my mom’s story, it was Papa’s.
Papa died six years before I was born. Mom never shared a lot of details about her growing up years, so he has faded into obscurity in the four generations that followed him.
His name was Melvin Dison. If you google his name, you can find a picture of him as a young man, learn that he lived from 1890 to 1962, and that his wife’s name was Myrtle. That’s not a lot. Solomon lamented as much thousands of years ago.
Melvin came to understand his place in history though. In the eyes of a little girl, he reflected the heart of The Father. He accepted responsibility in his church family. He sat on the front row and worshiped passionately. But most importantly, he embraced a small child to make sure that she knew that she was loved.
God is our Papa, and he makes us feel the same way.
The fortunes of billionaires like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk will disappear after a handful of generations. Melvin’s riches however are still growing. His smile still radiates in my memories of my mother, or when I see my aunts Kay and Pam. His embrace lives on every time that Preston hugs his granddaughter Emery. His voice speaks through me when I worship.
Melvin understood enduring greatness that should guide us today. When we accept Jesus, His spirit comes alive inside us. We walk this earth as an embodiment of who He is. Our testimony invites others and God’s love spreads across space and time. Almost sixty years after he died, Melvin reminds me of the power to change lives that is in me.
Each of us may only be a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. But never believe that our time is without impact. It shines in the eyes of a little girl who became a grandmother herself and generously poured out the same love she received. It guides me to do the same.
Thank you, Melvin.
The original letters are captured in pictures available through the link below. If you have memories of Melvin, please share them in the Comments.
