When I learned former President Jimmy Carter’s health had died, memories began to unfold of when I met him during a chaotic season in my life nearly seven years ago.
My memory is crystal clear on the events in my second career as a journalist. I was weary, tired and broke. And to be honest, I thought I’d made the wrong choice.
Maina Mwaura
In my new endeavors as a new 40-year-old journalist, I felt my dreams were crashing, not to mention the conservative church I had been released from was still haunting me. The pastor who bullied me while I was on staff was still bullying me through my social media feed even after the church terminated me.
My life was in shambles, and my new career looked less than hopeful. So, when President Carter’s pastor, Brandon Patterson, invited me to speak at Maranatha Baptist Church, I couldn’t believe it. I still remember the Secret Service pulling up to the door and President Carter entering the church.
I can’t remember much that evening other than the peace President Carter brought with him, along with the reassurance I felt that night when I got up to preach in front of him. I don’t remember much about my sermon on Moses, but after my sermon, in true Carter style, he came over to thank me for the sermon and even mentioned points he had taken away from my sermon.
The ride back to Atlanta that night had me on cloud nine. I couldn’t believe what God had allowed me to do. And if that weren’t enough, the email I received on the stormy ride back home sent me almost flying off the road. I had been invited to interview President Carter about his new book. It was hard for me to believe as a first-year journalist I was chosen to interview the former president.
He showed me my second half in life could be even better than my first half, and in many respects, it has been.
When I look back at my preparation time, one word rose to the top — fruitfulness. Although my story is very different from President Carter’s, we both had been terminated. He, of course, as president of the United States and me as a minister. In that preparation time I realized God was bringing me to President Carter to remind me the second half of life can be fruitful if we will allow God to do his perfect work in our lives.
Few would say President Carter’s post-election service to our country has not been fruitful. He has shown an example of service for all of us to follow. He showed me my second half in life could be even better than my first half, and in my respects, it has been.
The privilege to interview President Carter is an example of that truth. As he walked into the room for our interview, the same peace I experienced in Plains came with him at the Carter Center that day.
However, unlike in Plains, I was able to bring my daughter and wife to the interview. As soon as President Carter arrived, he headed straight to my daughter, Zyan. As they talked, it was like she was the only person in the room. She still can recite their conversation five years later. That day, President Carter taught me everyone matters, even the youngest among us.
During our interview, he answered questions focused on his loss of the presidential election in 1980. He recalled he was more concerned for his wife than for his career. That didn’t surprise me; his concern for others is his trademark.
As he walked out of the room that day, with my daughter beaming and looking over the books he brought her, I can remember thanking God for using President Carter to remind me to stay in the second half and to make it better than the first. God has done that. God also reminded me to keep people first, as President Carter did for my daughter.
Our final goodbye to President Carter is painful. My friend Jonathan Alter, President Carter’s biographer, told me, “Jimmy Carter really does love Jesus.” This is comforting to me, knowing that one day, as his brother in Christ, I will get to see him again.
For that, I am more than thankful.
Maina Mwaura is a freelance writer who lives in Kennesaw, Ga.