A Tribute to Eric Myers

Saying Goodbye

I want to tell you all about a friend of mine named Eric Myers. Eric and I were freshmen together at Harding University. Eric was in my social club when I was at Harding. When I got into our club Eric was the treasurer and shortly after I got into the club I was elected to be his assistant. Eric always went out of his way to make sure that I understood what I was doing and that I did a good job. Eric is probably one of the most patient people I ever knew.

Not too long after I got into our club I was elected to be a beau for one of the girl’s clubs on campus. For those of you not familiar with this ritual, the girls clubs at Harding select men that they feel reflect them well to become members of their clubs to help them when they need it. The night I was beaued Eric and our other friend Matt Clouse made me think they were fighting and they needed my help to settle it. Little did I know this was all a ploy so I would be surprised by the girls coming to beau me.

Eric and I cheered for our clubs at club sports, we participated in Spring Sing together and we served as officers and beaus together. Everyone loved Eric Myers. Eric excelled to become the Vice President of our club and he did one of the finest jobs anyone has ever done in that position. We used to watch Jeopardy together and more times than not he would beat me.

Eric died last night (February 24, 2008) in his sleep. According to friends he had been feeling ill most of last week and could not ever get warm. Eric went to sleep and never woke up and I never got to say goodbye. We have lost a good friend, brother, son and fiancé today. Eric was full of life and if you were around him very long you could not help but get caught up in his spirit.

While all of this may sound sad I write this with hope in my heart. The reason I have heart is because even though I did not get to say goodbye to Eric I will get to say hello to him again someday when we meet in heaven. All of the qualities I mentioned about Eric were overshadowed by his love for God. Eric was so many things but at the top of it all Eric was a child of God. I would like to think that Eric would not want us to be sad today. I believe he would want us to rejoice because he has claimed his reward in full in heaven.

I want to encourage you to always try to maintain strong ties with those who are close to you. There was a time when I didn’t go a day without seeing Eric Myers. It has been nearly three years since I last saw him and while I am so happy his now home I am sad that I didn’t get to say goodbye.

I want to leave everyone who reads this with a passage from Proverbs that reminds me of Eric.

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17

I hope that you have friends who fit this passage and I hope that you remember to stay in touch with them this side of heaven. Please remember to pray for Eric’s family and for his fiancé’ Kristen.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul Cartwright

Still Here

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Well I am still here. I apologize for my lack of blogging recently but things have just been really busy. I hope that everyone reading this had a great weekend and is making the most of the week so far.

We had a great day of worship here at Woodward Park yesterday where we witnessed the birth of David Molina into our family. Arnold Centeno baptized David following the message yesterday. I don't know about you but witnessing someone committing themself to Christ is a great way to start your week.

From time to time I would like to use this forum to share resources that can help you have a better walk with Jesus Christ. Today I want to introduce you to The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding. CPYU is a website that parents and teens alike can use to find better ways to understand one another. This is a great resource for parents feeling out of touch with their teenager.

One of the featured articles on this website deals with pornography and the effects it has on our teenagers today. Included in this article are several ways to make sure that the Internet usage in your home is used for only wholesome things. These are all easy to follow guidelines that will make your teen's Internet usage safe and they include...

• Place home computers in a central area of the house, not a child’s bedroom or secluded area. Make surfing the Internet a family experience.
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  Talk with your children about what they can and cannot do online, while trying to understand their needs, interests and curiosity.
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  Know your child's password and screen names; they may have more than one.
  Set reasonable time limits on computer use, and ensure that your children adhere to the limitations.
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  Parents (not children) should always establish and maintain an Internet service provider account (AOL, Earthlink, MSN), and the account should always be in a parent’s name (not a child’s). This ensures that a parent can legally maintain control of the account’s use and can access records if necessary. If an account is set up in a child's name, it may be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain account information without the child's permission.
• 
  You should also realize that children might be accessing the Internet from outside the home, such as friends’ homes, work, libraries and school.
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  Be open with your children and encourage them to come to you if they encounter a problem online.
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  Explore filtering and blocking software, which is used to sort information on the Internet and classify it according to content. A major drawback is that some filtering may block innocent sites, while many "negative" sites still get past the filters. Though these programs can be great assets, parents still need to maintain open communication with their children to inform and protect them.

These are just a few ways that you can make sure you and your teenager are safe when surfing the Internet. I believe children to be our most precious gift and I take protecting them very seriously. If you would like to read this article in its entirety you can click here and learn more about protecting your children. The Internet can be a great thing but it is up to us to make sure things are safe for our children. I hope you are blessed today.

Be Strong and Courageous,

Paul

Monday Monday

Good Morning Everyone,

Well here we are on another Monday morning. I can't say that I have much to report today but I think sometimes I don't tell enough about my life on here so I am going to correct that today.

I had a great weekend. Friday I went to see the Sanger Vs. Bullard game at Sanger. Now as you know I am not much of a football fan so you might wonder why I traveled all the way to Sanger for a game. The reason why is our very own Chelsea Davis sing the National Anthem. Chelsea did a great job and made all of us proud.

Saturday was a very busy day that started very early. Charles and Jenny Moisher invited April and I over to breakfast along with several of the members of the Seekers' class. Breakfast was wonderful but the fellowship between older and younger Christians was even better.

Saturday afternoon April and I went to a Civil War Reenactment. I had never been able to go to one of these and I have to say that I was fascinated by the level of attention paid to the smallest detail. We will definitely go back next year to watch the North and South do battle.

Saturday night the college class had a Halloween party at the Holland's house and it was nice to be able to go and spend some time with people our own age. Everyone dressed up and had a really great time. I want to take this opportunity to say a special thank you to Mike Avedikian for taking the teens to the corn maze at Cobb Ranch so April and I could experience some time with our age group.

I hope you are all blessed today. I know after hearing two great sermons from Jim yesterday and being able to teach the teenagers I have been. Try to make someones day happy today and I hope you are blessed.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

What a difference the mail makes

Good Morning Everyone,

A Happy Wednesday to all who read my blog. Have you ever noticed how a well timed piece of mail can make your day better. When I was in college the ladies at my home congregation used to send me a card every month. The ironic thing about these cards is that they always came right when I needed them.

If you have been keeping up with my blog you know that this past Sunday that the youth made an effort to reach out to a young man named Jerrod Shelton. I am pleased to tell you that our efforts have been well received. You are probably expecting me to tell you how they were received but I am going to disappoint you because I am going to make you work for it.

I am giving you the link to the "News" page on Jerrod's website so you have to go look for yourself. While you are looking at the news don't be afraid to explore and learn about a remarkable young man. I hope you are blessed today, and I know you will be if you follow that link above.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

Never Underestimate a Teenager

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I know I usually try to post first thing on Monday morning but when I tell you why I am a little late today I think you will be very understanding. It all started in the office last week. I was given a website to look at by our minister Jim Gardner. The address took me to the website of a young man that is quickly becoming one of my heroes Jerrod Shelton. Jerrod is a remarkable young man who seems to be the kind of guy you just have to like. Jerrod had a brain tumor removed last week and is awaiting test results to find out if it is cancerous or not.

You are probably asking yourself what all of this web surfing from last week has to do with my late blog entry...well here it is. Yesterday in Bible class I had the teenagers write cards, record personal messages with the help of Steve Knutsen, and I took pictures of all the kids while they were working on their cards. To say that the teenagers liked the idea of reaching out to Jerrod would be the understatement of the century they LOVED IT! They loved the idea of reaching out to Jerrod so much that they are working on a way to fly him out to Fresno once he recovers.

So I say all that to say that I spent my morning writing my own letter to Jerrod, packaging the teens cards and the DVD Steve made for him. I even managed to put together a little presentation of my own for Jerrod which I have put into my blog. Give a lot of credit to our teens and thank them for their hearts. I hope you are blessed today.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

Good Morning Everyone,

The above quote is from singer James Blunt whose song "You're Beautiful" was a hit on the pop music charts last year. I don't know about you but I like to look for God in places that you would not expect him to be. I don't know very much about James Blunt but I can assume from the lyrics and subject matter of his songs that God is not first and foremost on his mind. But I find it interesting that someone who doesn't profess a faith can make a statement with such a profound Christian message.

So often we get caught up in the pursuit of "happiness" or at least what we consider to be happiness. Happiness in our mind usually consists of having great wealth and leaving our mark on the world because of our success in business or some other venture. I am not sure how our priorities got so skewed. It breaks my heart that Christians often times choose work and money over their God. More than all of that it breaks my heart that we are modeling this for our children.

Yesterday in the teen Bible class I gave them permission to dream about some new and improved thing they would like to have. As expected I got the typical new car, new gadgets and new clothes but I was impressed by one young man who told me he wanted a new Bible. I wonder what my life would look like if I put aside my new and improved wants and addressed my need to study the Bible more and try to be a better Christian, husband, brother and son.
As much as I like James Blunt I like the way Jesus said it better

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Matthew 6:24

Today I want you to recommit to serving God first and foremost. For you that may mean not getting some thing that you want but it also means you get everything you will need in eternity. I hope you are blessed today.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

Christianity is Messy

Good Morning Everyone,

I remember as a college student hearing someone say that Christianity is messy. At the time I thought it was somewhat cliche and I figured this speaker was just trying to say something to get attention. I am now almost done with my third year in full time youth ministry and as I sit here writing this I am convinced that the words spoken by that speaker are very true.

You must be wondering why I am writing on this topic this morning, well I will tell you. Last night I was at the Big Fresno fair with April and our family. As we were walking down the midway I spotted Cedric, Cheryl, Roshell, and LaTatiana Rowe. I went and gave LaTatiana a hug like I always do when I see her only to discover the chili cheese fries she had been enjoying were now on my shirt. I intentionally wore a shirt I didn't mind getting messed up because anytime you go to a fair you never know what may end up on your clothes so I was not upset about my shirt.
My hug from LaTatiana made me begin thinking about what Christianity is all about. If I was not a Christian and a member at Woodward Park I would have never met the Rowes and never gotten that stain on my shirt. I also would have never gotten to experience the love of a family who puts God and the needs of others above their own everyday. I would have never been to Downtown Fresno to feed the homeless or gone to Firebaugh to help renovate their church building.

People tend to shy away from organized religion because they do not want the responsibility of showing up to a worship service or participate in activities. I would submit to you that people shy away from Christianity because they are afraid of getting messy. They are afraid to be involved in the lives of others to the point that they would carry someone when they are hurt or bear the burden of another. Jesus had something to say about this when he stated"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."--Matthew 11:28-30 (New International Version)

Christianity is indeed messy but the rewards from getting messy are immeasurable. As Christians we cannot be afraid to count the cost and risk getting messy in light of what is going on in our world today. I challenge you this morning to get messy. Get into the life of someone who needs you without worrying about being messy. Jesus never had fear of getting messy or ruffling feathers so if we want to look and act like Jesus we are going to have to get a little messy. I hope you are blessed today and that you are messy for the cause of Christ!!!

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul