Photo from Wikipedia |
Chuck Roots
4 December 2017
The Ripon Bulletin
EDITOR'S NOTE:
It is truly a pleasure to share "Roots in Ripon, with my readers. It covers a wide range of topics; his writing is informative, often humorous, inspiring and frequently touching, as he shares some of the most intimate parts of his life. I hope you enjoy "Roots in Ripon" as much as I do.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
It is truly a pleasure to share "Roots in Ripon, with my readers. It covers a wide range of topics; his writing is informative, often humorous, inspiring and frequently touching, as he shares some of the most intimate parts of his life. I hope you enjoy "Roots in Ripon" as much as I do.
Yes, it’s the Advent Season where all things
Christmas are on full display. Decorations have been set up in stores for quite
a few weeks. Plus, the advertising has focused on what you can get for that
special someone. Not to mention office parties and large gatherings to
celebrate Christmas and so on.
This past weekend I was the guest
speaker/preacher for a church in San Jose. It just so happens that this church
is where Isaura and I were married forty-one-and-a-half years ago. It is also
where I began my pastoral ministry as youth minister back in 1980 shortly after
completing my master’s degree at seminary.
It has been 36 years since I
was last there, so returning was exciting, to say the least. Who was still
there that we would know? Who had either moved on, or passed on, was another
question Isaura and I wondered about. In fact, as we were driving down to San
Jose later on Saturday, I commented aloud about two teenagers I had had the
privilege of leading to faith in Christ in 1981. I remembered Pam’s name
because she was a senior at Willow Glen High School across the street from the
church. But, for the life of me, I could not remember the boy’s name.
One of the high school teachers contacted me
asking if I would speak to her Sociology class, explaining the Christian view
of Family & Marriage. Pam was in the first class I spoke to. Her boyfriend
was attending another school.
After the class, Pam
approached me with questions about the Christian faith. I made an appointment
to meet with her in my office. She asked if she could bring her boyfriend. “You
bet!” I said. As we sat and talked, it was clear to me that Pam was ready to
ask Jesus into her heart. I looked at the boyfriend and asked if he wanted to
accept Christ as his Savior, too. He said yes.
Back to the present. The
church was having a catered dinner as part of their Missions Auction, and I was
to be the guest speaker. I shared a couple of the Christmases that stood out in
my life. I spoke of how I had come to know Christ as my Savior as a
twenty-four-year-old sergeant in the Marine Corps in Vietnam on September 8,
1972. I returned home to my parents a week before Christmas. My sister Joy, was
there, along with our grandmother, Bambi, and my brother John, who had flown
out from his home in Louisiana. My first night home we all sat up talking and
catching up until the wee hours of the morning. I was the last to finally call
it a night. I was just so hyped up about being home with my family! Instead of
going to my room to sleep in my bed, I grabbed several blankets and a pillow
and plopped them down in front of the Christmas tree in the living room with a
fire in the fireplace. I stretched out with my hands behind my head and just
soaked in the reality that I was home. And best of all, I finally could
celebrate Christmas for its true meaning: God loves us so much that he sent his
Son, Jesus, to die for us so we could have eternal life in Him. Wow!
The other memorable
Christmas I shared was one where I was not home. In the mid-1980s I was
assigned as the command chaplain to the USS White Plains (AFS4). As a supply
ship we were always at sea. In 1987, we were in the Indian Ocean heading for
the island of Diego Garcia which is about 1200 miles south of India. We have a
small naval base there, so we pulled in on December 23. That evening, the USO
put on a show in one of the warehouses on the pier. This was one of Bob Hope’s
last tours with the USO. Lee Greenwood of “God Bless the USA!” fame, was also
part of the entertainment. What a treat!
Since we still communicated
the old-fashioned way back then, I had written a letter to Isaura back in Guam
that I would call her on Christmas Eve from Diego Garcia, or D-Gar as we called
it. There was a small building with a bank of telephones for sailors to call
home. It wasn’t cheap! For fifteen minutes it cost me $50.00! But it was
certainly worth it!
I paid the money, then
placed the call. The way this works is, there is a meter on the phone that
begins at fifteen minutes and ticks backwards until your time is up. When the
phone rang, Laura, our oldest, who was nine, grabbed the phone. She said,
“Hello?” I replied, “Hi Baby!” She screamed, “Daddy!” My emotions kicked in at
that point, effectively shutting off my ability to speak. Then I hear Isaura on
the phone say, “Hi Honey!” I wanted desperately to say something, but my throat
was not cooperating. All the while I’m watching this stupid meter count down
the amount of time I have left. I managed to squeak out, “Give me a minute.” I
gathered myself enough to have a wonderful conversation with her and also to
speak to our youngest, Jenny, who was then 6. I missed them all so much!
Roots in Ripon - Author Chuck Roots |
So, back to my speaking
engagement last weekend. I was to preach Sunday morning, so Isaura and I arrived
early and sat in the sanctuary listening to the worship team practice. They
took a break just before the service was to begin, at which point one of the
men from the worship team walked over to introduce himself. He appeared to be
middle-aged. I stood to shake hands, only to hear him say, “I’m Richard. I
don’t know if you remember me or not.” I told him that I did not. He said, “I
was dating Pam back then.” Well blow me over! This 17-year-old I had led to
Christ in my office is now a 53-year-old husband and father, playing guitar
with the church worship team!
This Christmas Season has
begun wonderfully for me! I trust it will be equally exciting for you, as well!
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