Lost in Faith

Received this email yesterday from a friend after he read my rather lenghty post on the 2nd half of the chessbaord.

Roy,

A friend of mine from college called this morning.  He runs one of the biggest cruise line companies in Florida.  He is on top of the world.  He has been a huge success since he left college and has a wonderful Christian family.  He spent a lot of time this morning describing their brand new ship and I was blown away with all the new features.  After about 20 minutes of describing state-of-the-art innovations, and filling me in on the latest with his family, he dropped a huge bomb on me.  His announcement shook me hard and brought me to tears.  Let me tell you a bit about my friend.

When Kirk started college, he was a very quiet person that kept to himself.  We pledged to the same fraternity as young immature freshmen.  He rushed/persuaded because his brother was a senior in the fraternity.  Otherwise, he would have been happy spending four years in his dorm room and just enjoy going to classes.  We got to know each other through mandatory rush programs for the pledges.  I’ve always seemed to gravitate towards guys that don’t fit the mold of a standard run of the mill person.  I made it a point to make Kirk laugh every time I saw him.  It really made my day when I would get him laughing so hard, he would fall to the ground and roll back and forth on his back.  He was very athletic even though he was shorter and thinner than most.  We joined all the intramural teams we could.  The guys started to dig Kirk as he contributed well to the teams.  At parties he started opening up to others.  He was always laughing and having a good time.  By the time he was a senior, he was voted the President of the fraternity.  We were one of the biggest groups on campus.

Once he came out of his shell, it was apparent he was a natural leader.  Towards the end of his tenure as President, he filled all the mandatory paperwork to apply to our National chapter for the yearly awards.  The changes he put in place, and successes he helped us gain that year, attributed to our chapter winning the top recognition as the best chapter in the nation.

Kirk had never really had a girl friend.  He had been set up a few times for formal parties, but never had a real relationship.

He and I went to a Christian rock concert our senior year.  I introduced him to a quiet girl I had new well from our church youth group.  I’d never seen him hit it off with anyone like this before.  Long story short, they have lived happily ever after together.

Back to the bomb he dropped on me today.  Kirk said that he feels he owes his life to me.  He said he wouldn’t be in the position he is in today without the influence I had on him.  He shared with me an invitation and said he wouldn’t take no for an answer.  He wants to invite me and my family on the voyage trip on the new ship.  This company normally operates the first trip as a training experience filled with employees, partners, and associates from the travel industry.  On this trip he said he not only wants my family on the cruise, he said he wants me to bring all my friends.  I told him that was way too generous.  But, he insisted.  I told him I could think of about five families that would love to join us.  He said that wasn’t enough.  I said I’m sure the rest of my family would love to bring their families.  He said that wasn’t enough.  So, I asked him how many I should plan for.  This is when I cried.  He said he needed 4.000 more rooms occupied.

He went on to tell me the cruise would not be going to the standard destinations.  They have acquired four new islands that have never been utilized.  They have build amenities that are out of this world.  The ocean water is crystal clear blue/green.  The locations are absolute paradise.

Here is where I need help.  I’m thinking if Shoal Creek had 1,000 people attend last Sunday.  If we gave each family the opportunity to invite 3 additional families, then we may be able to fill the rooms.  I know of no other way to fill this number of rooms.  I know this is short notice.  But, the timing is perfect as the cruise sets sail the week Liberty schools are on spring break.  Many folks may have already made plans.  So, we may need to expand the invitee list somehow.  I was thinking we could have tables set up just outside the service area for people to sign up, and list the 3 families they want to invite, and their contact information.  We could have people start calling their friends to ensure they will be available.  Oh, I forgot to mention.  His company is paying for buses to take us to Florida and back.  We will leave on a Friday, and come back 10 days later on a Sunday.  This is a 7 day cruise in paradise!

Do you think we can get that many people in such a short notice?

I’m sorry at this point to say…everything I’ve written above is complete fiction.  I’ve shared it in the spirit of filling the second half of the chess board.  Just think how quickly, and easily, people could make phone calls to 3 families, to spend 7 days in paradise.  Why is it so hard to call 3 families about an eternity in paradise?

Bill Wolkey