Thousands of single adults live in Austin, Texas. Some are college-age students at the front edge of novice adulthood, while others are seniors in their autumn and winter years. Someone has called our era the “age of rootlessness.” We certainly live in a mobile, technological, culturally unstable environment. Many singles actually seek cities in which they can be anonymous and explore their identity.

    Watonga, Oklahoma is a small farming community on the great plains. A few years ago, I stopped there for some hot apple pie and coffee in a local restaurant. Sitting next to me at the chipped formica counter was an old farmer. His overalls and blue workshirt were faded the same exact shade of light blue. His laced up work boots bumped the counter as he shifted on the old chrome swivel stool to take a long look at me. You see, I was raised by farm folks. My parents were farmers, as were their parents before them. I grew up on the farm, but as my dad used to say, “it never took” with me. I wanted a career with air conditioning, so here I am.

    The old farmer’s face was as weathered and cracked as his boots. A John Deere cap was pushed back on his head, and like all farmers, his forehead was as smooth, pink, and shiny as a baby’s bottom. All folks who work in the weather and wear caps look like that. He gave me a once-over, and asked “Where ya from?” A weathered Camel cigarette was parked in the corner of his mouth, and defying all the known laws of physics, as he asked me this question, IT NEVER MOVED! “I was born in McAlester, Oklahoma,” was my reply. He gazed at me a moment longer, sat back a little on the swivel stool and softly said, “‘At’s awright, we all gotta come from somewhere.”

    You came from somewhere. You may live in a metropolitan area or a farming community. You may be anonymous or you may be the best known person in your community. No matter, you still have a past. Someone said we spend the first half of life trying to get away from home, and the second half trying to get back. You may be running away from your past or you may be embracing it. Even in a mobile, technological, culturally unstable world, you still have ROOTS.

Today, I ask you to remember your roots of faith.

    If you were truly blessed, then somewhere at sometime someone said a word, taught a class, or did something to plant the seeds of faith in your life. Paul recognized the ROOTS of Timothy’s faith. Somewhere along the line, you were not only taught faith, you caught faith. Today, I ask you to remember your roots of faith. Read Hebrews 4:12. God’s Word is so powerful! He chose imperfect people to give us roots of faith. He choose imperfect people to share His Perfect Word. These “farmers of faith” planted seeds in your heart, mind, and life that are still there, waiting for you to remember, to process, and to live them out in your life.

    The Holy Spirit will work in your life as you remember and acknowledge the truth of His Word. Many of us learned the wrong lessons. Certainly, there is much about our early teaching that needs to be corrected. Not all the things we learned are true. As we spend time in the Word, God’s Spirit will help correct our hearts. I just ask that you find someone for whom you can be grateful.

    I thank my parents for their lives of service to God; a service that is stronger today than ever. I thank Gerald Stewart — who still preaches in Perry, Oklahoma — for his selfless example of servanthood and love. I minister today by his example. I thank Virgil Trout, once the pulpit minister for the Mayfair congreation in Oklahoma City, for his supernatural patience and gentle guidance as I began my ministry almost thirty years ago. My deep interest and compassion for people are shaped by his example. These folks live every single day of their lives in service to God, and are still going strong!

    I could go on and on, listing folks like this from my past and present. How about you? Why don’t you make a list? Why don’t you pray a blessing on each one? The good things of faith that are in your life didn’t come by accident. They are part of “where you are from!” And after all, we all gotta come from somewhere.

 

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©2002, Cary Branscum. Used by permission.

Title: "We All Gotta Come From Somewhere"
Author: Cary Branscum
Publication Date: January 24, 2003