Yesterday while I was teaching at our 10:44 service I spotted a familiar face from the past. I had not seen this person in several years and seeing him caused me to be distracted for a moment. The person was my first ever youth pastor, Ralph Hummel.
Ralph's son has recently moved into the Brighton area and has begun attending Northern Hills with his wife and two sons. On this particular weekend Ralph and his wife Susan made the trek up for a visit. It was great to see him!
Ralph played a huge role in my spiritual development. When I was in high school I was very much a fringe kid as it related to attending church and youth group. One day Ralph called me and invited me to go play racquetball with him. It didn't sound very "churchy" so I said yes and he came by to pick me up. We played. He lovingly destroyed me. He took me to get a soda and then we headed for home. As we are riding in his pick-up, we came upon a hitchhiker. Much to my dismay, Ralph stops and picks up the guy and he was soon riding along right next to me.
The next thing I know, Ralph is telling this guy - a complete stranger about Jesus! I don't remember what happened after that, but that day had a profound impact on me spiritually. It caused me to consider Jesus in ways that I had not up to that point in my life. It caused me to start attending youth group and get involved in studying God's Word, making new friends and looking for ways to serve. In many ways it was the first step to where I am today.
It was a real privilege to share the above story with Ralph and remind him of the eternal difference he made in my life!
Thanks Ralph!
Great story. I love to think about the folks that influenced me spiritually. Definitely my parents come first on the list, but a guy who sort of "landed" our youth group by accident is way up there on the list. His name was Tony Williamson and I give him credit for impacting a LOT of us up in Longmont after what could have been a very bad turn of events.
Posted by: Stephanie | May 08, 2007 at 07:13 AM