Ray

I love Dr. Pepper. Growing up, I only remember having any kind of Coke (it's all Coke) when we had pizza. Mom wasn't big on sugary things, diet drinks hadn't really surfaced and milk was supposed to be good for me, so no cokes. 

But Grandpa drank Dr. Pepper. 

Ray Elders was a church planter and pastored churches in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and South Carolina. As you might imagine, the pay was never great. I only remember him living in a parsonage or a trailer.

He worked as a carpenter and painter, fixed wrecked cars and trailers, even raised bees for awhile. Anything to bring in a little extra income.

I told him when I was 5 I wanted to be a carpenter and a pastor just like him... "So I don't have to go to college."

It would be so hot in Tennessee the tar would bubble off the asphalt. I'd climb in Grandpa's rebuilt car and we'd fly down the road to visit someone in the hospital or buy pop rivets to fix a trailer. He'd stop for gas and would get a Dr. Pepper. So I would too.

Now I'm in my 40's and know Dr. Pepper has nothing for me but weight gain. But somehow, when I drink it, I feel the warmth of the Tennessee sun. I feel the wind on my face and smell the dust from doing 60 down a dirt road in a car with no AC. 

And I hear his laugh. It's the laugh of a man with his only grandson. It's full of love for the boy and thankfulness to God for the time together. 

So I roll down my window, squint my eyes from the sun, wind and dust and I sip a Dr. Pepper. And I remember. I have been and I am unconditionally loved. And it's well worth the calories.