Influence and Prayers

Two purposes for this post this morning. The first to show the influence of people whom you don't even know who can change and influence your life. Many know of Dr. George Benson, former missionary to China and president of Harding University for 29 years. I knew Dr. Benson when he was chancellor at Harding and I have his autograph on a Harding print that hangs on the wall of my office. I was privileged to attend Harding Academy and Harding University. Both were among the greatest experiences of my life.
But his influence went further than that. In my sophomore year at Harding, I worked at Camp Tahkodah. There I met a young girl by the name of Kerry McEuen, granddaughter of Dr. George Benson. I didn't know she had such a pedigree and she didn't flaunt it, although she could have. She had a nice smile and she accepted me right off the bat. We became friends. Over the course of the next year, she started dating a club brother of mine, Mark Trotter. After college, I don't remember seeing them very much. Mark went off to dental school. We'd see them occassionally at homecomings and such. One day we were taking our daughter to Camp Tahkodah and there was Kerry, much as I remembered her. Sweet smile, blond hair. She was taking her daughter to camp also. Kerry was pregnant with her sixth child at the time. It turns out my daughter and Kerry's daughter were in the same cabin and they became friends. Isn't it amazing how generational values and friends are passed on?
Not long after that meeting, we learned that Kerry had been diagnosed with cancer. She remained in our prayers until we heard that she went to meet her Lord. We were saddened that her children did not get to know their mother as they should.
We were thrilled to hear that Mark had married again to a lovely lady who took those children in as her own. (By the way, one of the children had Down's Syndrome) They've now been married for six years. I found out yesterday that Mark has a brain tumor.
Both of these wonderful people lived beautiful Christian lives and left footprints on Martha and my hearts. And now I ask the question, "Why?" I don't know, but God is good. And so today, I ask you to please pray for Dr. Mark Trotter. Please pray for his family. Please pray for his wife, his children, his parents, his brothers. Pray that His will is done. Mark's oldest is a youth minister. He has served the church and His Savior faithfully. So you can see the lives he has touched. And so I ask that when you get on your knees, that you pray for this wonderful man and his family. JW