I was thinking again today about some people who have helped me in my life’s journey. I will never forget Mr. Thompson and all his involvement in my life.
It was Alex Haley, the author of Roots, who kept a picture in his office of a turtle sitting on top of a fence. He kept it there to remind him of a lesson he had learned many years before: “If you see a turtle sitting on a fence post, you know he had some help in getting there.”
Mr. Thompson was the Superntindent of Howe Independent School District for as long as I can remember. I have many wonderful memories of growing up in Howe, Texas and attending Howe Public Schools. To be quite honest, the memories are probably much better than the actual expereince. I am sure that has to do with age and maturity.
Howe is located 8 miles south of Sherman on Highway 75. I remember when the population was less than 1,000. My graduating class of 1968 only had 30 students. It was a very small school in a small Texas town.
His name was Charles Thompson. We called him Charlie behind his back and would have suffered greatly had we been caught. He was a very stoic man, but was considered a friend by all the students. Mr. Thompson believed in people and made a point of saying and doing things to remind them constantly that he really cared about them. He also taught Algerba. I remember being amazed when I first saw letters and numbers in the same equation. It was by the grace of the Lord and the mercy of Mr. Thompson that I ever made it through that class. I also remember the time when a few of us boys got in trouble on school time with the local merchants and he went to bat for us. He said we were good boys and thought we deserved another chance.
It is one thing to care about people, it is quite another thing to treat them like a son. My dad was a traveling preacher much of his life and was seldom home. Mom and we children attended the First Baptist Church, where Mr. Thompson was a deacon. I will never forget him asking me if I would go with him to a Father and Son event being sponsered by the church, because he knew my father would not be able to go. He made a difficult time in my life a little easier.
A few years ago, I visted him in the nursing home. I just felt like I needed to go out of my way and say ‘Thank You for all he had done for me.
Life today wouldn’t be the same without the many Mr. Thompsons in our lives. It might be good time to pause and think about someone who helped you along the way and say a prayer of gratitude for them.
For you who know me well (especially my children), you will smile in agreement as you read this post. You see my webmaster and wife agree that I cannot leave well enough alone. I build a blog website or have a ministry website built and it is up and running and that should be the end of it. Right? WRONG! 
Here is my justification for not being able to leave well enough alone. I have this desire at my age to learn new things. I want to develop, change, and be able to manage my website. I am one of those rare, unique people who loves change and at this time in my life loves learning new things. So I make changes, and screw things up, and it cost me money, but I learn in the process and I am happy. Thanks for all your understanding.
