I hope this month’s article finds everyone doing well! As of right now I’m at the Sunbelt Expo in Moultrie, GA and I will have to say it has been an amazing experience! If you have never been to the Sunbelt I want to encourage you to go! I have had the privilege of getting to know Chip Blalock who is the executive director and his talented staff over past week and a half. Someone else that I just can’t tell you enough about is a gentleman by the name of Bill Patten. Mr. Patten is the President of the Sunbelt and if you have ever seen any movies with southern gentlemen in them… that is Mr. Patten to a tee! With a Deep South accent, very quick wit and a to the point attitude he is a magnificent one of a kind person! The Sunbelt is one of the largest agricultural expos in the United States. The work that goes into putting a show of this size on is unreal! If it has anything to do with agriculture, I mean in any way shape or form, it is at this show!
Events like the Sunbelt always give me a chance to get to know people from different walks of life and even give me the opportunity to get to know people in my life on a different level! I have always been one to try to learn, not only from my experiences, but from other people’s experiences as well! Over the past few weeks I have learned a lot and also been through a kind of emotional ringer.
I have always heard the old saying “Know matter how bad you think you have it there is always someone out there worse off.” I have always known that was true, especially with me because I have always thought of myself as very blessed. The one thing that has always fascinated me is how people handle adversity! While I was at this show I had a conversation with a gentleman that I hold very dear to my heart! I think a lot of him for many reasons! I guess one of the biggest reasons is because he reminds me a lot of my father! It just so happens that he is battling the same thing my father died from and the cause of his prostate cancer is also from exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
I enjoy ever conversation with this man because even through sickness he is still so full of passion and life! Over lunch the other day I told him how much I admired his strength and courage for battling his cancer and keeping a positive outlook. I told him that I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to go through what he is going through much less being positive. He said, “Look here, let me explain something to you so you can understand. When I was born I was very premature and the doctor told my mother to take me home because I probably wasn’t going to live. She took me home and fed me with an eyedropper because I was too small to nurse. I didn’t cry until I was six weeks old! I have been through and survived Vietnam, a horrific car wreck, and a wonderful marriage to a woman that I know would’ve liked to have killed me several times over! The way I look at it is I should have been dead a long time ago! I’m going to keep rounding third heading for home. If this stuff kills me then so be it because there is one thing for sure, we’re not going to live forever!” After an answer like that you see what I see in this man!
Making new friends and really getting to know them better, has made my life very enjoyable! I used to be kind of shy when it came to getting to know someone new but I have overcome that! I want to encourage everyone to get to know someone that you might see at a roping or at work and you say hi to but that is about as far as it goes! You never know just how good a friend you might end up making! This same principle applies to our spiritual life as well! God can be that best friend that we always turn to or he can be that person we pass by warming our horses up in the arena and just say hi to. It is like any other relationship that we may have, the more you dig in the more you get to know Him. The rewards of this relationship are far greater than any other!
See you soon
God Bless
JD