It's All Important

My friend Chuck Collins works with me at the radio station. He's the program director for WAKR. He received a phone call from a listener who thanked him for playing the song "Vincent". It gave her some sense of peace, as the song reminded her of her son, whom she had lost recently. Chuck wrote about the call in his blog....titled "Just When You Think You Don't Matter"

I often think about my job as it compares to other professions. Firefighters laying down their lives. Doctors saving lives. Nurses and caregivers making lives a little easier. It makes me feel guilty thinking about the fact that I program songs, features and entertainment content on the radio for a living. Hardly as admirable a profession as these others.

The phone call Chuck received that day reminded me of a letter I received almost 2 years ago. I was programming another station, 95.5 The Fish, a Christian music station.

I received a letter from Mr. Hopkins 4 days after he laid his son, Andy, to rest. Andy was one of the Hiram students who lost his life from injuries sustained when his car was hit head-on by a repeat drunk driver. If I recall the story correctly, that driver had 11 previous DUI offenses.

Eleven.

Andy's dad told me he and his wife were touched and encouraged by the songs they heard on our station while traveling to and from the hospital to visit Andy before he died. On the morning of Andy's funeral, the alarm went off and they awoke to a song playing that Andy loved. In fact, lyrics to that song, "Homesick" by MercyMe, were posted on a tribute bulletin board in Andy's dorm. He told us Andy enjoyed our station. He thanked me and the people who worked there for being a source of joy in his son's brief life.

That this man had the strength, compassion adn thoughfulness to take the time to thank me...to thank us, was incredible. He'll never know the gift that he and his son, gave to me that day. He was a true example of God's Grace under fire. An example that I want to emulate.

The phone call Chuck received that day reminded me of that letter from the family of Andrew Hopkins. And it was also a reminder that no matter what we do for a living, we can have a positive effect on another human being.