Carving Up Character

Have you ever had one of those conversations where you weren't aware of time, and you were just enjoying the moment? I spent an afternoon talking with Henry Joyner and discovered we shared many of the same interests. Chrissie asked me what Henry could be talking about for so long! In this day of social media, technology, and the busyness of life, it was uplifting to sit down and have a conversation just to hear someone's story.

Did you know Henry has been a television reporter and a cameraman, or that he once worked for the National Enquirer? I couldn't help asking if he ever wrote about alien abductions and we had a good laugh about that. Henry never did write alien stories! He has always enjoyed writing and photography and was an English major in college with a minor in journalism. He had a few gigs as a wedding photographer and did some tabletop photography for magazine illustrations. Now I guess you know why we spent so much time talking that afternoon.

If you are familiar with Henry’s spectacular wood carvings you know he is very talented and creative, but did you know he also draws, paints, and sculpts? I was captivated with the caricatures and the details I found in them. You can examine them and always find something new you didn't notice before, and the stories he carves into them are so characteristic of life.

Henry’s favorite material to work with is wood, and he senses a spiritual connection to the trees and to God the creator when he works with it. There is something about working with wood, a sense of awe and admiration for an organism created by God during the creation of the world that we couldn’t do without today. I thought about Henry's characters and how each one is special, and there would never be two that were exactly alike, each of them telling a story with carved details and hand shaped with love and care. I thought God must be doing something similar when he makes each of us, different as can be, with stories as varied as each personality. Henry says he carves away what doesn’t look like what he is making and maybe that’s what we should be doing too, carving away everything about us that doesn’t look like Jesus.

By Michelle Holland

Follow and Shine

I couldn’t help thinking about dynamite in small packages after I heard Samantha Boutte’s story of what it was like to attend the firefighter training academy and I learned that when you are loaded with grit, determination, and a lot of devotion to God, there is not much that can get in your way. She never had dreams of being a firefighter, but when your prayers open another path and everything lines up completely, you can be pretty sure God has you there on purpose.

Fire academy training is demanding, and when you are the smallest person in your class, and one of two women, you must be ready to hold your own. Samantha prepared mentally by setting two goals. She would not be the last person to finish anything, and she would not show weakness. Samantha prayed and relied on God and adrenaline to get her through. The training was demanding, but the hardest part was being separated from her kids because everything she does is centered on caring for them, teaching them values, and being a role model. Samantha works with hazmat reports and safety issues, and she is training to be an EMT, someday she may be part of the suppression team.

She is on a mission to be the best person she can be, to do what God calls her to do, and to support this church with a willingness to work and give back to the community. Samantha told me she knows when leaving her house every day that she is representing more than just herself, she also represents her faith, her parents, her church, and her job.

I considered Samantha’s journey and how she never expected firefighting to be a part of her life, yet when she looked back, she could clearly see how everything fell into place. I thought about what Pastor Jon said last Sunday when he told us to live into our intended purpose and how God’s light is inside all of us and that light must come out. He explained how one person can’t shine the light for the entire world, but we can shine it wherever we find ourselves. Samantha prayed, listened, and followed the path to find her purpose and her place to shine, and with her determination and grit, sunglasses may be needed at the fire station.

By Michelle Holland