Blast from the Past

Last night I was watching my normal evening line-up on Fox News when the phone rang. I answered it and a guy asked if this was the Scott Baker from Salem, Virginia. When I confirmed to him it was he said, "This may be a blast from the past, but do you remember Darryl A." I knew who he was immediately. We sat by each other in home room at Salem High School. He had played tackle on the offensive line that I was the center.

He is now living in Oklahoma and tracked down my number through a mutual friend that I have on facebook. This friend we have in common told Darryl where I lived and he tracked me down. I know some people do not like facebook, but this is a reason that the social network is amazing and can be life changing.

Darryl called me because he has two sons in the military. One of them is in Iraq and the other is headed to Afghanistan. He called me to see if I would pray for them. We prayed on the phone together and then we talked for a little while. Darryl proceeded to tell me about his life after high school. He told me he had made some bad choices in his life. It turned out to almost be a confessional. I was able to talk to him about Jesus, how much Jesus loves him and grace.

It has been 26 years since he has talked to me. We really weren't the closes friends when we were in school. We knew each other but never really hung out. He tracked me down he said because he always knew I was a man of God (I know some would beg to differ). What a compliment. You never know who is paying attention as you try to walk with God.

I would like for everyone who reads this to pray for Darryl and his two sons: Preston and Mark. Pray that the boys will be protected and that Darryl will be healed spiritually and physically. Then pray for some Darryl's from your past.