My friend, Dick Moe said not to do it that way…
Once, a very long time ago, I met this really cool person. He was referred to as “Pop” Moe to all the cool kids, the athletes in my high school. Funny thing was, he would sit in the stands and cheer the marching band as hard as he cheered for football or basketball or anything else. I was in that marching band. He just loved all of us “kids”.
As an adult, I was selling real estate in rural Walton County, Georgia. This fella pulled up to my sales trailer looking for my developer. The man was selling building materials and he looked familiar. His first reaction to seeing a young 20-something woman-girl alone in a sales trailer in the middle of nowhere selling $60,000 homes? Protection, he thought he best drive through the subdivision on a daily basis to make certain the subcontractors held me in the highest esteem. He was “Pop” back in high school and he was “Pop” again when I sold houses in the country.
Then, as luck would have it, he showed up again as I began a lifelong dream of becoming a writer. First, with my own paper, The Grayson Gazette, and again, with The Gwinnett Citizen. I wrote up the lives of many people in about 500 words or less for years. He read each word and made sure I knew I was a treasure to him.
A couple of years ago, I floated the idea of “giving up” Facebook for Lent. His response was immediate. “Please don’t do that,” said Pop (Dick Moe). “I love to have a daily interaction with my community, I love the invasive nature of Facebook-it keeps us connected and that is what our Lord wants for us.” Yes, he said that to me.
So, in honor of Dick “Pop” Moe, a man who has influenced my life since I was “a kid”. I will not “give up” Facebook during Lent. I promise to redouble my efforts to connect with my neighbors, my friends, my loved ones.
And Pop, you keep changing that sign in front of Faith Community in Grayson, GA. It is the best community message we have out there-don’t give it up!
FreelanceBeth 