Category Archives: Life

52 Weeks of Gratefulness #19 – People Who Put The Public In Public Education

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com Grateful For The People Who Put The Public In Public Education
Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com Grateful For The People Who Put The Public In Public Education

In Week 19 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for people that put the “public” in public education.

In this photo our son Chris is headed to a trip to willingly spend days in the woods woods (the duplication is on purpose for emphasis –this was deep, hot, tick and mosquito infested woods, not some glamping trip). Our son was eager to go all because when Dr. Jessica Witt Tegt and her family made Starkville their home she, being a scientist, saw where she should could make a contribution and help take science education to the next level in our community’s schools.

Chris joined Dr. Tegt’s Science Club back in 2011. As I write this, he is now finishing his first week interning with a leading timberland management firm. Chris talks often about his desire to share the inspiration he received with other kids in the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District. This happened, largely because someone saw an opportunity to make things better for our community and cared enough to to do something about it.

When we, as the public, love where we live, take ownership and participate in the care, maintenance and improvement of public resources such as our schools, that extra effort makes for an extraordinary community.

This particular picture made me recall the work of Dr. Jessica Tegt and Team Awesome: Evan O’Donnell, Beverly Keasler, et al. But, I’ve seen so many people taking initiative and going the extra mile: whether it’s Dr. Kay Fennell Brocato who tirelessly advocated for Studio School (concepts from which are present today in our District’s state of the art Partnership School) or Dr. Alison Buehler who identified 3rd graders struggling to read at grade level and recruited volunteers to implement a remediation program that she designed or Vanessa Shaffer who advocated for the sport of tennis and held her own tennis camps to help on-ramp kids to the high school tennis team or Eileen Carr-Tabb who mans concession stands to support our district’s teams just because she’s a member of the community or Chief Sammy Shumaker who organized men to stand in the gap, pray over each and every one of our schools and mentor young men.

I could go on.

I am thankful for neighbors that put the “public” in public schools, who demonstrate what it means to live in community and take our collective success personally.

I’m grateful. #52WoG

Joy And Pain

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com Joy And Pain

I have great joy, peace and hope because Christ is in my life.

Yet, there is pain that never leaves me. It’s like gravity, a condition of this environment, always there, weighing me down.

I don’t want to,
I don’t feel like,
I don’t have the strength to,
are all ways the pain makes me feel.

But, there is strength to thrive in spite of the pain: His strength.

To enjoy it I have to accept my weakness and His power, allow it to align me, flow through me and make me flourish,
like a flower emerging from the weight of the earth, its roots still in but its bud reaching toward the sun.

Quite often, life requires more than I have. But, His grace is sufficient. (2 Corinthians 12:8-9)

There is power to overcome
I don’t want to,
I don’t feel like,
I don’t have the strength to.

There is power to go on
as a vessel of His Love.

I just have to go,
depending on Him.

Any Love, any Light, any Life that He can channel through me is eternally worth it.

In week 29 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for Freddie…

Originally posted on Facebook on Saturday, July 23, 2022.

In week 29 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for Freddie Williams.

Remember when I said there are kind, caring, compassionate people in this world? Here's one of them.

A native of Starkville, Mississippi.
Serves our country as a soldier in the U.S. Army.
Starts a successful transport logistics company, Williams Logistics & Tranport LLC.
Volunteers to mentor young men in our community.

Today, he hosts a back to school bash, giving away backpacks and school supplies to our area youth. But what I find more impressive than this gracious act is how he chose to go about it. He elected to get the community engaged in meeting its own need.

He had tshirts made for volunteers that said BElieve in YOUrself. A message I take to mean that we can do better and the first step is to believe.

Thank you, Mr. Williams for that much needed encouragement but moreso for demonstrating that it's possible. I'm grateful. #52WoG

There are areas of my life that are a mess.

There are areas of my life that are a mess. Messes can be fixed, if I: 1. Believe better is…

Originally posted on Facebook on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.

There are areas of my life that are a mess.

Messes can be fixed, if I:

1. Believe better is possible.
2. Take responsibility for the mess.
3. Stop adding to the mess.
4. Do something everyday to make it better.
5. Celebrate improvement, any improvement, every time.
6. Don't allow setbacks to stop me. Acknowledge them, don't ignore them. Confess them. Grieve them. Try to avoid repeating them. Return to step 1.
7. Never give up.

Pictured is my office. Those who know me can look at this and know I'm not ok. Usually, there is not so much as a stray pencil on my desk. But, life happens. What you're looking at is the result of wave after wave of unexpected challenges. I'm not beating myself up about it because this is me just rolling with it.

Now, I believe better is possible and I'm moving towards it. #thriveday

I Can Go On

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com I Can Go


He didn’t want to.
 
The Christ, the God-Man, the highest form of existence did not want to do what was before Him to do.
 
“O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” -Matthew 26:39
 
Yet, His love for the Father and for you and I prevailed. By it, He steeled Himself in the face of unparalleled and incomprehensible suffering and chose to trust and obey the Father, to fulfill His ministry and finish His redemptive work.
 
I am tired. I am frustrated. I am discouraged and this remembrance is an encouragement to me.
 
Surely, with there being even more grace towards us now than there was before (John 4:12), I can endure these comparatively light and momentary afflictions: I can endure fatigue, feelings of failure, discouragement, difficult and devious people. Not seeing the end from the beginning, I can trust the Father, I can hope, I can love, I can work His fields, I can keep my hands to the plow of His redemptive work no matter how small or fruitless my efforts may seem.

I can go on.

Jesus is my example, my model and my guide. He is the person I want to become –to attain to His resurrection, to be like Him: righteous, just, loving, faithful –altogether fit to rule. He is my prize.So, even though I don’t want to right now, I press.

This is our son Roman (he’s going to kill me).

Originally posted on Facebook on Thursday, May 5, 2022.

This is our son Roman (he's going to kill me).

I told him the budget for his car and that anything extra he'd have to pay. He started applying for jobs the very next day. He's already earned $500 dollars. And, now he's looking for another job!

I am posting this in case any of my Starkville friends can help him out.

The kid is driven:

He wanted a gaming computer. He saved for a year, bought the components and built it himself.

He wants to join the Air Force and heard they fancy Cross Country athletes. He joined the Cross Country team and has run for three years.

He wanted to go to The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science. He initiated and completed the application process by himself.

He wants to graduate the Air Force Academy ready to buy a house. He saved $1000, met with Barbara Runnels Coats and opened a mutual fund at 13 years old.

I could go on…

Roman is putting in applications all over the place, but if any of our friends in Starkville are hiring or know of any opportunities for a smart, respectful and driven young man, we'd be grateful if you pass them along. He's ready to start immediately. Please feel free to message me or Melissa Luckett.

His resume can be viewed at the link below:
https://bit.ly/3P32ICs

52 Weeks of Gratefulness #16 – Fruitful Words From A Friend

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com Thankful For Fruitful Words From Josh T Taylor

In Week 16 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for a fruitful word from a friend, Josh “T” Taylor.

I want to advance the Kingdom of God.

But, how we imagine the Kingdom and what it actually is are often starkly different.

It is easy for us to be deceived by appearances, to busy ourselves with religious activities, to feel affirmed by big crowds and large projects, but all the while having done nothing for the Kingdom. (Matthew 7:21-27)

I have struggled with wanting to do something “big” and feeling like I’m not doing enough… that is, until my brother, Josh “T” Taylor, shared a word that has been setting me free.

“T” and I attend a marriage ministry together. It is a small group but it is very rich.

One day, we were talking about the role our marriages play in the Kingdom by glorifying God in how we as husbands and wives reflect Christ’s love.

In that moment “T” pivoted and said something that completely shifted my view of ministry. He was sharing water that he had received elsewhere but it was particularly refreshing to me because it was filtered through his sincerity, his love for me and his applying it in his own life.

He said, “The Kingdom of God advances at the speed of relationships.”

That word immediately affirmed itself. My heart was set on fire as much by the messenger as by the message.

It was illuminating. It revealed, among many things, how I often get distracted seeking outcomes while God seeks hearts. And, we reach those hearts, not by large, flashy ministries but by Spirit-filled, sacrificial, longsuffering love for people as they come to us, which is most often one at a time.

I repent. Not my will Father, but Your will be done. (John 6:38)

This word from a friend and dear brother has been a great ministry to me. I will go forward in service to the Father, seeking to be faithful with whatever He places in my charge -one talent or five, and trust God with the rest.

Thank you “T”. I love you.

I’m grateful. #52WoG

The Real Enemy

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com The Real Enemy

The threat to the church or to my effectiveness as a kingdom citizen is not systemic racism, wokeness, injustice or the advancement of the LGBT agenda.

There is nothing external that can stand against the Church.

Or, did we not believe our Lord when He established the Church and said, “the gates of Hell will not prevail against it?” Matthew 16:18

Satan knows this well, which is why he instead tries to work from the inside.

“For I know this, after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.”
– Acts 20:29

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”
– Matthew 7:15

The threat is not external but internal.

Jesus did not say, “Beware those who vote for Trump” or “Beware CRT” but, “Beware the leaven of the [religious establishment] which is hypocrisy.” – Luke 12:1

Hypocrisy: the presenting as one thing while actually being another.

Two of the most pernicious forms of hypocrisy in the church today are the industrial church and cultural christianity. We’re losing way more of our children to this than to Disney.

We wrestle not against flesh and blood. Our hypocrisy is the real enemy.

Therefore, let us put away the leaven (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Let us come out from the #industrialchurch. Don’t go to church. Be the church.

Let us come out from #culturalchristianity. Don’t just claim Christ’s name. Seek Christ’s heart.

Beware Cultural Christianity

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com Unity Is Not Conformity

Cultural Christianity is the reduction of Christianity to an identity.

Cultural Christians share language, conventions, and practices around Christian themes but do not recognize the deity of Christ nor submit to His authority as evidenced by their dissimilarity to His Biblical account.

The key characteristic of Cultural Christianity is the preeminence of the group. Cultural Christians prioritize membership to the group above submission to Christ.

Being a Cultural Christian does not require regeneration, belief or any lifestyle change besides participating in group-sanctioned activities that signal their affiliation. Membership is granted on the basis of conformity to the group.

Cultural Christianity adds members largely through cultural assimilation: the often unconscious adoption of the positions and behaviors of others whose acceptance is desired. It seeks cultural belonging and influence, not the Kingdom.

Beware #CulturalChristianity