Tag Archives: gratefulness

52 Weeks of Gratefulness #2 – Mr. Charles Cheney

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com 52 Weeks of Gratefulness #2 – Mr. Charles Cheney
Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com 52 Weeks of Gratefulness #2 – Mr. Charles Cheney
In Week 2 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for Mr. Charles Cheney.
 
In a conversation about parenting, a dear brother, J.B. Nicholson, said that children are like arrows in a man’s quiver and raising them is like straightening an arrow’s shaft, you must repeatedly smooth them in the same direction.
 
I was very fortunate to have had many wonderful people, especially men, who were co-laborers in the smoothing process of my life. Mr. Cheney was one of them.
 
Mr. Cheney was a bear of man with a spirit as gentle and kind as a dove. It was apparent that he enjoyed food, as he and his family operated a restaurant in addition to his daily 9 to 5. Their family attended the same church as my family, Blessed Trinity United Methodist Church and the highlight of many Sundays was eating at their restaurant after service. No one, and I mean no one, could fry fish like Mr. Cheney. The portions were generous, like the man, and his restaurant retains a spot in my heart as one of the best of all time.
 
Mr. Cheney’s generosity seemingly knew no bounds. He took it upon himself to start a Boy Scouts troop at our church. I fondly remember the simplicity of those days. We’d have entire meetings that consisted of nothing more than seeing who could do the most push-ups and sit-ups. That was it and we loved it.
 
I especially remember the one and only “camping trip” that we did as a group. Mr. Cheney told us we were going to cook “man meals” and cook our own dinner over a camp fire. He took our group of boys to the grocery store, bought us each a pound of ground beef and told us to find other ingredients that we’d like to include in our meal: potatoes, celery, onions, carrots, etc. -it could be anything, whatever we thought would suit our palate. He then brought us to his house where we each prepared our own meal: we mixed our chosen ingredients together, added seasoning, wrapped them in aluminum foil and placed them atop the camp fire in his back yard. Looking back it seems so simple, too simple to have kept the attention of a whole band of pre-teens, but that it did. It was one of the best times of my life. So much so, it’s a tradition I decided to pass down to my boys.
 
Notwithstanding, it wasn’t all food and fun. Mr. Cheney was yet another man that I wanted to be like. He was a professional man, a family man who dealt lovingly with his wife and children, he was kind and generous. His influence was another part of the smoothing process of my life, helping to solidify in my mind the kind of man I wanted to be.
 
I don’t have any pictures of Mr. Cheney but I try to honor his influence in my life by doing for others what he did for me. Pictured are my boys preparing their “man meals” and cooking them over a fire in our back yard. They seemed to have as good a time as I had with him 30 some years ago. I hope to be as good an example.
 
I’m grateful. #52WoG

52 Weeks of Gratefulness #42 – Jannie Thompson

Jannie Thompson
Janine Thompson with Ebenezer youth at old Burger King
Janine Thompson jump rope Ebenezer youth
Ebenezer Youth Group

In Week 42 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for the youngest person I know, Jannie Thompson.

Miss Jannie (as she’s affectionately known around my house) was one of the first people to welcome me when I visited Greater Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church as a college student. If Ebenezer had a mascot, it would be Jannie Thompson. She is the personification of the down-home kindness and warmth that characterizes that fellowship.

I got to know Ms. Jannie mostly by serving with her in the youth ministry. Among the many things I’ve come to love about Ms. Jannie is her enthusiasm for life. Whatever the youth were doing, she was doing. It didn’t matter if it was kickball, jumping rope or racing, she was in it to win it.

She kept us grounded because she is unapologetically real. She is one of the kindest people I’ve met but she will slip off those shoes and earrings on you, if she has to. Because she was so real, our time together as a youth group was real. We didn’t pretend or play church. We wrestled with real problems, discussed what was happening today and talked about how to apply our faith to real life.

But perhaps what I appreciate most about Ms. Jannie was her openness and big heart. There were kids that came to our church hurt, confused and alone but always found a safe place with Jannie Thompson. I personally saw her be understanding, forgiving and take in scores of people into her life where she would love on them and where they would find healing. I was one them. I’m grateful. #52WoG

52 Weeks of Gratefulness #41 – Childhood Neighborhood

Childhood Neighborhood - Facebook

Image Courtesy of Google Maps

In Week 41 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for my childhood neighborhood.

I find the sound of lawn mowers strangely satisfying.

It elicits feelings of safety and security. When I was growing up as a kid in Jackson, Mississippi, lawn mowers were part of a cacophony of sounds that announced the arrival of a new Saturday morning. It meant it was sunny, the day was underway, the neighborhood was awake and that it was time to go out and play.

As I reflect back on this as an adult, it has another meaning that I didn’t consider consciously as a child but nonetheless planted the sentiments I find myself reflecting on today. And that is, I had neighbors who cared.

They cared enough to be up at the crack of dawn to weed flowerbeds, trim hedges and mow lawns. They cared enough to organize neighborhood watches and neighborhood events.

I remember during Christmas, the neighbors would come together to select a theme for the entire neighborhood. Each yard had common decoration elements such as a frosty white Christmas tree behind a spotlight and matching signage with different phrases like “Joy to the world”.

There was a deep sense of pride in *our* neighborhood characterized by doing things with each other and for each other. We were together and it made me as a child feel secure. I pray we can get back to that. I’m grateful. #52WoG

52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #34 – Rosemary Luckett

Rosemary Neal Chris Family Picture
Apartment complex where the Luckett family lived during seminary training at ITC Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia
Rosemary Luckett
Rosemary Luckett at Ribbon Cutting Of Master The Machine Computer Learning Center

In Week 34 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for my mother, Rosemary Luckett.

The place was remarkably clean as I remember.

It’s my Dad’s first year at ITC Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia and we’ve not long moved into the apartment. My brother’s a baby and I’m between first and second grade.

Sterile seems a more accurate description. The walls were stark white. The ceiling is white. The floor is white and black speckled laminate. The only thing breaking up the monotony of the space was a thick, dark grey rubber border running along the bottom of the walls. In the living room, there’s a large window that spanned the height of the wall, sitting just above a motel style air conditioner.

It’s quiet, too. It’s Saturday morning. At our old house, the neighborhood would already be bustling with the sound of lawn mowers and playing kids. But here, it’s dead quiet, aside from the muffled sound of city traffic due to being some way off in the distance. I’m looking out the living room window onto the spacious, grassy courtyard dotted with large trees and thinking perhaps I’ll play out there.

And then, it started as the sound of gentle arrhythmic taps against metal -like salt being slowly sprinkled on aluminum foil. It was the first droplets of rain hitting the coils of the air condition unit. The window began to collect a few drops making a circuitous path toward the sill. Then, what began as a sprinkle became a thunderous shower and sheets of rain are now streaming down the window.

There was suddenly static, like a TV without a clear channel. And then the sound alternated between music, then voices and music again, each electronically garbled between transitions. My mother had gone and gotten the radio and brought it to the front room. She was turning a large silver knob, searching for the right station. When she found one playing a song, she bent forward toward me with her arms stretched out and hands open, motioning for me to dance.

She took me by the hands twisting, jumping and skipping about as we danced to Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and the music of that day. My brother was on the couch in his diaper and she’d occasionally scoop him up so he could dance with us too. A dreary, lonely day was suddenly filled with light. All I remember was the brightness of her countenance and the fullness of her smile as her full, black untamed hair bounced exuberantly upon her shoulders. This is my mother; my wonderful, beautiful, incomparable mother. It is a moment that perfectly encapsulated her as a person. Over and over throughout my life, she took a cold, empty husk of an existence and filled it with joy, hope and love.

I don’t remember the music ending. I hope it never does. If I could relive that moment for eternity, that would be heaven.

I thank God continually for you, Mom. I love you.

I’m grateful. #52WoG

Originally posted to Facebook on August 21, 2021.

Nothing To Offer

Fish and Bread

Had it been me, I wouldn’t have even bothered to offer.

But when faced with the need to feed thousands of hungry people, a boy offers his small lunch of five barley loaves and two small fish (John 6:1-14).

I would have thought so little of what I had that I wouldn’t have even considered it worth offering. I would have only come forward if I could afford to throw a great feast -a well organized event with every detail meticulously choreographed and rehearsed. And, if I can be honest, I would have done it, not primarily to help, but so that my offering would reflect well on me.

My attitude would have been that the little I have is nothing, so I will do nothing with it at all. I believe this was the attitude of the wicked servant in the Parable Of The Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. When called to give an account by his master for what he had been given, the servant feigns respect and claims that it was for fear of loss that he treated his stewardship like trash. But, I believe the Master saw right through that and recognized the servant’s disdain immediately. The Master saw that his attitude was, “What you gave me was not worth bothering to do anything with”. No wonder why, instead of just loosing his stewardship, the servant was cast into outer darkness! This is an arrogant, lazy and wicked attitude that I find I am also guilty of.

Lord, I am sorry and I repent!

Jesus taught in another account of stewardship that whoever is faithful with a little is faithful with much and how you handle what you have now determines what will be committed to you later. There are a plethora of books and courses aimed at discontent people promising to improve our pitiful lot with titles like “From Zero to Hero” and “From Nothing To Everything”. But, the truth is that none of us have “nothing”. God has granted something to everyone. The question is have we been diligent to take inventory of what we have and are we being faithful with it? Are we aiming to make maximum use of what we’ve been given so to return the best possible profit for the One who gave us our stewardship?

I confess that I could do a lot better. It begins with becoming as a child, like the boy with the five barley loaves and two small fish -having a heart that gives no consideration to how it may make me look but simply making what I have available for Jesus to use.

In the days we live in it seems that many of the issues we’re faced with are insurmountable. But, we were chosen for such a time as this. He has given us everything we need to be salt and light in the earth right now. Therefore, it is my intent from this day forth to remember the example of the boy and his lunch, offer what I have in faith and trust God for the rest.

There are at least two things I believe I can contribute as salt and light and this is where I’ll start:
1. Helping people achieve sufficiency through entrepreneurship to provide for their families and invest into the uplift of their communities.
2. Walking with couples to build successful marriages and families that glorify God and serve as a dependable vehicle to transfer wealth and knowledge for future generations.

It’s a work in progress but here’s a rough draft of the vision and plan.

For more information about the entrepreneurship courses and community, see here: https://bit.ly/3wT8yNE

If you’re interested in joining a fellowship for married couples, join us here: https://bit.ly/3seeXjd