Anyone?

My father would say he did not have very much when he was growing up. Most of us would call it dirt poor. Like peanut butter and graham cracker for lunch all the time poor. He was raised not by his mother–she had left and moved away–but by his aunt. We called her Granny.

My father was a hard worker and he loved to read books. The story is that my mother’s family had an encyclopedia set and my dad would go visit just to read the whole set. By the way, they didn’t have google then.

Fast forward a few years and my parents were married and my Father was a construction worker–an electrician. Around the age of 30, my father felt the call to be a pastor. It was at this little white church, a farmhouse actually. This is where I grew up.

I always remember my dad being a preacher and an electrician. Interesting combo, right? My dad had his hard hat and his tools, but on Sundays and Wednesday evenings, he wore a suit and tie. At the construction sites, they called my dad the singing electrician. He was always singing or humming or whistling.

Even though my father was always busy, he always made time for me and my brothers. Whether it meant going to our football games or playing basketball in the front driveway. He would discipline us when we needed, of course, but he was always there to help us and give advice.

The little church where my dad was a preacher was where the Lord called my dad to be. We were happy if we had 100 people. Usually it was just 50. It didn’t seem to matter to my dad. He would have liked for the church to grow in number but only because it meant that more people had a relationship with God. My father was content with where God had him.

When my father died, I am not sure how many people were there, but it was many. In fact the whole funeral was packed. There were a mixture of people from our church, other churches, and also construction workers. Many people were crying, even the construction workers. It was amazing to see how God used my dad to impact so many lives. This little boy from the hills of Eastern Kentucky who came from nothing.

“Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”

Matthew 4:18-22

“As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the toll booth, and He said to him, ‘Follow Me,’ and he got up and followed Him. While He was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ Now when He heard this, He said, ‘It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 9:9-13 CSB

No matter where you come from or what your story is, God can use you. You might be fisherman, a tax collector or even an Eastern Kentucky electrician.

You just have to be willing to follow His leading.