John Gunter

Life - Faith - One Bridge

In celebration of “death”

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Sam, Young Mee, and I when they visited me here 18 months after the the story of this post
Sam, Young Mee, and I when they visited me here 18 months after the the story of this post

Sam Shin and I met each other the summer before our 8th grade year.  We have been like brothers since 10th grade.  We have literally traveled the world together, were roommates in college, and have shared 2,394,173 laughs together.

In the process, my family became his and his family mine.

His parents, Mr. & Mrs. Shin, were first generation immigrants to the US.   They moved to Atlanta in the early 1970s, fairly soon after Mr. Shin had experienced a life altering conversion to Christianity.  As best as I can tell, Mr. & Mrs. Shin were among the patriarchs of the Korean-Christian community in Atlanta, which is now a sizable, influential, and wonderful group of people.

Mr. Shin runs an upholstery shop and Mrs. Shin worked in the back some, but mainly raised Sam and his five older sisters.  All six of the children have graduated from top-tier universities and have Godly, strong households of their own.

In February 2006, I was in Atlanta working and starting a grad degree.  Sam and his wife, Young Mee, were living in Denver.  Sam called to let me know he was coming to town.  I knew his Mom was sick, but it had taken a bad turn.  Two days later, Sam called me from a hospice in Atlanta.  Mrs. Shin was not doing well.

I arrived to the hospice about 30 minutes later.  One of Sam’s sisters, Jae I believe, met me in the parking lot.  “Mom wants to see you before she goes. ”  This was the first time I internalized the gravity of Mrs. Shin’s condition. [Read more…]

3 great Easter memories (both fun & significant)

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(left) Betsy, Becky, and I with Dad; just prior to THE Easter Bunny incident; (right) Nathan with my camera two years later
(left) Betsy, Becky, and I with Dad; just prior to THE Easter Bunny incident; (right) Nathan with my camera two years later

Thise week, I have enjoyed thinking about the Easter holiday and the significance in my life. In the process, three great memories have come to mind.

First, I remember being young, really young. I was in Glenville, Georgia at my Grandmother’s (Meme) house. I don’t remember how young I was, but I was young enough to still believe in the Easter bunny.

Glenville, Georgia, as you might guess, is a small town. It has produced the Great Kay Gunter and several NFL players. I love Kay (also known as “Mom” to me) and I really like the NFL, so I think the town is pretty cool.

Anyway, Meme had a large field behind her house. My sisters convinced me THE Easter Bunny had been seen jumping around back there. I completely believed them and went out in search of this holiday titian, second only to Santa in importance. To this day, I can picture “THE Easter Bunny” that I really thought I saw.

He was huge (maybe six feet tall), as white as untouched snow, and his ears were tall and pointy. I was CONVINCED I saw him, so much so that to this day I can remember the image I saw of him jumping in the back of the field and disappearing into the trees.

Of course, I didn’t see him. However, it was so real at the time that I can still remember the mirage my mind concocted on that Easter weekend. My sisters were pretty believable in fooling me at the time.

Second, I remember Easter Day 2005. My sister Betsy was pregnant with her 4th. “Big as a house” pregnant is probably a better, more apt

[Read more…]

A prayer from college. . . and beyond (Psalm 19:14)

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In honor of Easter Week, I will write three posts over the next seven days more focused on Christ and the Bible.  Here is the first.

My old fraternity house
My old fraternity house was an unlikely place to learn about prayer

When I came to faith in Christ back in college, my mind was rough, to say the least.  It was packed with rapid fire emotions and thoughts of aggression, anxieties, lusts, and everything else which vie for the mind of men.

One of the practices I came to was a simple, yet profound act for me.  I decided to physically kneel down in my room and pray Psalm 19:14 every night.  There I was, hunched over a musty brown couch, in my tiny, dank room, on the second floor of my beer and sweat soaked fraternity house, praying nightly for the Lord to simply take over my thought life.

Thankfully my roommate was ALWAYS out way past my bedtime, so I was safe from him awkwardly walking in during this time!

Today, many years later, my prayers look and sound similar.  This is my prayer today, but my heart for everyday…

Lord Jesus, please guide me this your day.  You have given me this day as a gift, so please direct it at every turn.  Please control my sinful urges, but unleash my God-given desires and [Read more…]

The role of infused beauty in my life (“softening” a single dude)

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Zach Galifianakis in all his glory.
Zach Galifianakis in all his glory.

I am a guy. I like guy things. Sports. Competition. Adrenaline. Guy movies. Guy humor.

My humor embarrasses my sweet nieces, Anna and Kathryn. They love me, as I do them, yet when I say something which I feel is funny, they inevitably don’t like it. They like me, just not my humor. They are beautiful, tender, and sweet. I am not.

My apartment is practical, yet barren. I have more devices and gadgets than I do serving plates. Wires and extension cords are everywhere. I have comfortable chairs, yet they are ragged and old. While my apartment is generally clean, my walls are also, with not one single picture hung throughout my entire living quarters.

Additionally, the people I spend the bulk of my days with are men. Both in work and in life. Both single and married. The common fabric of men is that we are generally, on average, well, um, gross. We say crass things (even married guys away from their wives). Hygiene is not our top priority. Not even a top 10 priority. Restaurants are chosen by factors of quantity, taste, and price; NEVER by the aesthetics or food presentation. Never.

So goes the life of a single male. . . at least this single male.

A few years ago, I realized something fairly obvious to most, yet which had never previously occurred to me. Married men have a natural beautification, a natural softness in their lives that I do not have in my own. Wives are a wonderful blessing to men. Among the many wonderful blessings, wives bring beauty and tenderness into the lives of their husbands. As time was going on, I felt this lack of beauty in my own life was affecting me. It was making me more coarse and “hardened” than I wanted to be. . . and as Kathryn and Anna would attest to.

Moreover, I am convinced that all men WILL seek beauty; it is just a matter of whether it is legitimate or illegitimate. Unhealthy (or illegitimate) substitutes for beauty men will sometimes gravitate towards are things like  [Read more…]

Listening to God in the midst of discouragement

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This article is a continuation of the one I posted last week, “Fear only talks to those who listen”.  If you have not read that one, please CLICK HERE.

I took this during my last trip to Thailand
I took this during my last trip to Thailand

Recently, I was talking with a close local Asian Christian brother.  He lives in a different city than I do, yet we see each other fairly often.  We met for coffee and to talk about life and work.

My friend is a man of courage and integrity.  He is a great father and husband.  He is intelligent and a graduate of one of the best universities in this country.  He is a man who is doing amazing work in serving and helping many people through the love and message of the Gospel of Christ Jesus.

My friend’s impact is far and wide.  I’m not speaking in hyperbole here; he really is a man of incredible integrity and impact on a very large scale.

My friend, though, is very discouraged.  There was actually no need to share this with me, as I could see it in his eyes as we interacted in a meeting of peers earlier in the week.

As a result of several stresses converging upon him at the same time, discouragement has set upon him like a lead x-ray vest (yes, I have been injured far too many times if this is the word picture that comes to mind!).  This discouragement has caused him to doubt himself, his calling, and some of the great works he has started which are legitimately helping many people in many ways. 

As I was thinking about fear last week (click here for the article), this conversation has me thinking about discouragement in much the same way.  As is the case with fear, discouragement grips us all from time to time.  Though I feel empathy for my friend who is currently stuck in this season of discouragement, this is not what concerned me most about our conversation.

I am most concerned that my friend is now allowing his discouragement [Read more…]

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