Shoulder-To-Shoulder

It’s been a long road but today we conclude the 7 post series on the gorilla that has learned to shave that we know, love and respect as Ernie Golen.  My friend Amelie paid me a compliment that I don’t deserve but was encouraged by; she said that even though these posts have been about Ernie they still retained my writing style.  That is a huge answered prayer, because as much as I wanted to write about Ernie I refused to compromise the integrity of my blog with just foolish stories.

This post may seem scattered but I’m trying to conclude many thoughts about him along with sharing how proud I am to be standing shoulder to shoulder with him at this point in my life.

I’ve mentioned previously about the period of my life when I was 20 years old when my Mom passed away and the months to follow.  That day, Dec. 20 2007, I came to the house and found several guys at the toolbox and explained what had happened and immediately they huddled around me and began to pray for and over me.  Ernie was one of those men.

In the weeks following I began to return to “life as normal” and that included hanging real hard with the toolbox fellas.  One night we(Gordon, PJ, Joe, Nort, and Josh “Colonel” Sanders) were hanging in Ernie’s room and we were joking each other as usual when I said something to Ernie and without thought or hesitation his response was, “You’re Mom…….”

Silence seized the room.  Ernie looked like a deer in headlights.  He began slowly, “….I uh…I’m sorry.”

I responded, “Ernie, it’s ok, really.  No one who hears a ‘your mom’ joke really things those things about their own Mom.”

Ernie, believe it or not, has unbelievable candor in certain situations.  There are certain people or situations that may lead to some people to believe the opposite but in the end, he does in fact know the line.

An incredible aspect of Ernie is the wealth of knowledge that resides inside his head. What takes this knowledge to the level of being truly stellar is his attitude towards sharing, teaching and encouraging people with this knowledge.

What I love is His ability to see situations in his life and his ability to decipher which of his gifts of communication, wisdom or knowledge to employ in situations.

To tie this thought together, there are times for Ernie where he is left ill equipped for situations.

            -Example: A couple months into my life after my Mom had passed, Ernie was working on his jeep and I came to say hey and talk for a bit.  We were sitting in the back of the jeep when Ernie looked at me and said “Hey man, I have no idea what you’re going through so when you want to talk, we’re all here.”

Ernie is a man who knows and loves God.  In this knowledge of God, Ernie also knows that God has created life and everything in it and has a beautiful way of letting God’s creation speak volumes of God’s love for him.  Whether it’s mountains, trucks, fast cars or guns, Ernie sees God in every bit of those things.  In his knowledge of Christ, he treats the people in his life with a reverence that comes solely from Jesus.

The majority of the man I am today is either directly or indirectly related to Ernie’s involvement in my life and for this I am unbelievably thankful to God for authoring my life with such perfection. 

I am more a man of my word because of Ernie and his courage in calling me out for exaggeration and embellishment.

I have experienced Christ personally because of Ernest John Golen.

            --Last story I’ll tell.  A couple years ago for Josh Defnall’s birthday we decided that we were going to go camping.  Doesn’t seem that crazy for our group of friends until I share that it was January and it was 14 degrees outside and most of the roads were snow and ice covered.  The road we were on is a mountain fire road so it is carved into the side of a mountain so to the right of us is a very steep drop off.

            We were coming up the mountain and Ernie and I were in his jeep.  We came around a turn on a very steep mountain road to see something terrifying, a road covered in ice for about 70 feet.  We made it about two thirds of the way across the ice before slowing to a stop.  Ernie looked at me and said, “You need to get out.  Walk in front of the jeep.”  I opened the door and took a step out but instead of being able to stand on the ice I took one step before my feet shot out from underneath me which resulted in my body going completely horizontal before crashing back to the ice right on my tailbone/lower spine area.  Ernie looked out the window and yelled something profane.

            I finally got myself up onto the hill next to the jeep as Ernie opened the drivers door and said, “I really don’t know how we’re going to get out of this.” I responded, “Well, just put it in park and we’ll figure it out.”  He put it in park and got out.  He closed the door causing the jeep to just start sliding…then…BOOM! 1 wheel over the edge, BOOM, 2 wheels over then the jeep was GONE.

            The jeep went careening down the hill backwards, eventually turning sideways just in time to connect with a tree on the back passenger side which then caused the jeep to roll 2 times before hitting another tree causing the jeep to flip end-over-end where it eventually came to a halt on it’s roof, facing down hill.

            I experienced Christ that day, I don’t think I’ve ever felt like God was more in control of my life than how I had escaped being in that jeep as it went over the mountain by 30 seconds and Ernie by merely 5 seconds.

I am not worthy to have such amazing men of Christ around me.  I get to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with 5 of the most courageous, bold, passionate men I know every day.

Ernie is one of the 5…Jason mentioned that I should do a week-long series about all of them.  What do you think?