I hit 1949 followers, so here we go again. It might be a long one: My Dad was born in 1949. The only stories I only know a few stories from Dad’s childhood: once he threw a brick in the air and watched in come down on his own face. Once he ran through a pile of ash from a leaf /1

burn and learned a good lesson via 2nd degree burns. In one of the few times he attended (Baptist) church as a child, one of Dad’s classmates got baptized. Dad watched as the kid headed back to his seat and after he sat down the kid shot him the bird.

Dad met my mom while /2

they were still in high school (rival schools in Bay Co., FL - Bay (Mom) and Rutherford (Dad)), but I don’t think they started dating until college. He was the first in his family to earn a bachelor’s degree (his dad never learned to read). Dad attended /3

the University of West Florida (Go Argonauts!), and it was in college that he met Jesus. Dad professed faith in Christ, and was baptized as the first new/charter member of a newly founded PCA church in his hometown. 

After college Mom and Dad got married and he worked as a /4

radio DJ (his broadcasting chops are still in full force) and with the juvenile criminal justice system as a parole officer for teens. They also fostered and came close to adopting a boy with Down Syndrome named George. I wish I had known him, as a friend if not a brother. 

/5

Dad felt the call to ministry so my parents, who had lived their entire lives in West Florida (Panama City / Pensacola / Tallahassee), packed up and moved to Jackson, MS, where he earned an M.Div. at Reformed Theo Seminary. This is where I made my entrance, August of 1980. /6

After seminary, Dad ministered in three churches in three states over the next 36 years. He was utterly faithful to preach God’s Word, love his family, shepherd his people, and steward his gifts. I’m so proud of my Dad’s ministry, and I hope to one day be as great and faithful /7

a pastor as he. 

One story in particular sticks out about who my Dad is: a young woman in our congregation was pregnant out of wedlock. Dad walked with her through a church discipline process and saw her restored. Then it happened again. This time, Dad walked through the /8

process again, but insisted that she and the father spend a year in counseling with him, with the aim for them to be married. 

The catch? She was white and a covenant child of the congregation. He was black and a new believer. And this was rural Alabama. When they completed /9

their counseling, my father married them, and promptly had two elders resign and leave, taking a number of members with them. My Dad never wavered on love, on discipline, or on doing what was right, even when it cost him dearly. 

As a Dad, he is just the best. /10

He provided me with an incredible model of a man, a husband, a father, a friend, a servant, a shepherd. He was always there for me: he got down on the floor with me to play with my action figures; when I played Little League, he was my head coach; when I marched in the band, /11

he was at every game; when I played high school baseball, he became our PA announcer; when I fell in love with musical theatre, he got involved too (portraying a memorable, spot-on Ed Sullivan in Bye Bye Birdie, I might add). He allowed me, even as a young child, to be a /12

part of his world and ministry. He took us fun places (usually in the city we were headed for PCA’s General Assembly - our best ever family vacation was driving out to Colorado Springs, CO). He was never overbearing, but always present. He was always tender, but not afraid /13

to get tough (which I needed).

He did everything for us that he could, including making sure my sister and I went to the college of our choice, though my parents were always of modest means. When I am hurt (physically or emotionally), he always empathizes with me. When I am /14

sad, he always makes me laugh. He listens to me and considers my perspective. This has been a long thread already, but I simply cannot say enough about my Dad. I hope I can be a fraction of what he is to my own family, church, and community. /15

I am overwhelmingly blessed to be known and loved by Rev. Thomas “Tommy” Ray Carr. /fin

TFW when there's a typo in the very first tweet of a long thread.