Chris Howlett

Happy Birthday, Mom!

“Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” – Jack Benny

Seventy years ago, today, a little girl baby was born to George and Lillian Welch at St. Joseph Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. When this little girl grew to the ripe old age of seventeen, she married a young baseball player named Coleman Howlett at Epworth Methodist Church. Through the years these two were inseparable partners in parenting and ministry, always looking for ways to invest their lives in others for the sake of Christ.

For most of her children’s lives, she was a stay-at-home mom, though during that time she earned a bachelor’s degree and nearly a masters. Her full-time job was raising a family and supporting our father in ministry. It was such an amazing blessing to me, and I’m sure to my siblings, to come home after school to a mom who was there waiting for you. She was always the kind of pastor’s wife who was comfortable in her own shoes, not worrying about the sometimes unrealistic expectations of others, but lovingly serving through the local church. Her attitude and actions led to her being universally respected and loved by parishioners, fellow pastors and their families, and the communities in which we lived.

She is a warm and loving person who is the kind of person with whom others want to spend time. She is generous and caring and has a real sense of purpose about her life and the impact she wants to have on others and she has continued to find ways to invest her life in the lives of others for the sake of Christ. At College Heights UMC in Elizabethtown, she’s leading a Bible study for nearly thirty people. She’s very humble and doesn’t think she does that good of a job, but I know she does, and her church family is thankful for her sharing her gifts and talents.

Today is my mother’s 70th birthday. Happy Birthday, Linda Lorraine Welch Howlett. I hope you’re having a blessed day!

Olympic Lesson

“Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or by the handle of faith.” – Author Unknown

Ginny Thrasher was a figure skater. She practiced and practiced and worked and worked, but never attained much success on the ice. During her freshman year in high school she decided there wasn’t a future for her in figure skating. She was, however, a pretty good shot, discovering this talent on her first ever hunting trip with her grandfather. She switched sports.

She ended up making a pretty decent shooter, competing in air rifle competitions and joining the West Virginia University shooting team last year. She helped the team win an NCAA championship and qualified for the Olympics, though no one expected her to win a medal.

A couple of weeks ago, competing against two Chinese shooters, both former gold medalists, she took the first gold awarded in this year’s games, the 10-meter air rifle competition. She kept her cool despite the odds against her and a fan in the stands blowing an air horn at random intervals. After earning the gold, nineteen-year-old Thrasher exclaimed, “This is beyond my wildest dreams!” 

Sometimes our plans don’t work out. We work hard and do our very best and still fall short of our goals. The temptation is to give into anxiety and doubts and give up. The answer, however, is to keep moving forward, keep asking questions, and keep looking for God’s direction. When God shows you the way, grab hold of the handle of faith!