ShrockWorks 4x4

Some of you asked for a copy of what I said at my son
Matt's funeral. Here are my notes. I love you Matt ❤️

First I'd like to thank all of you for being here
Funerals ... well they're not a very happy occasion
Especially the funeral of someone so young as Matt
It's often tempting for me to just avoid that kind of discomfort.
Thank you all, for showing your LOVE and having the courage to be here
To honor Matt's life

Why was Matt here? What will Matt's legacy be?
What do I do with this previously unimaginable tragedy?
How can I live MY life in a way that honors Matt's life?

That's the question I've found myself asking ,
Almost from the moment I learned of his passing.
What I decided was that I can not. I will not,
Let Matt end with the passing of his physical presence here on earth.

I haven't met anyone who knew Matt well who didn't feel enriched by his presence.
Who did not feel the world was a better place with Matt in it.
That's certainly true for me.
Being Matt's father taught me so much, and
Matt is definitelty not done teaching me new things.

Another question that quickly came to mind for me:
How can God take people like Matt from us?
There are people in the world that just make the world a worse place.
😡 Why not take them instead God!?! 😡
Questions like that make me angry.

Is God just cruel or indifferent?
Or is there, maybe, some sort of a plan,
no matter how painful it is at times?
Maybe there are things Matt taught us
That will live on and continue to enrich us,
that will make the world a better place.
Is there some meaning to this madness?

I believe without *ANY* reservations there is.
I dont claim to know the mind of God, and
My takeaways may be different than they are for you, but
I would like to share with you:

3 things Matt's time here taught me.
3 things I will try my best to live by from this day forward
To honor Matt

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1.) The first thing is Love
- What is love? "To will the good of another"
- Love isn't just a feeling, It's a decision, it's an action
- 2 aspects of Love: Giving Love and Receiving Love
- I suggest that, in your life as you strive to love others, to will the good of others as Jesus taught us to, strive also to be able fully receive their love, for you, as well.
- Let people love you. Let other people help you.
- So many of you have reached out and done so many things to support our family.
- I have been deeply moved, and I am deeply grateful for the love you all have shown us.
- Matt taught me how to receive love a little better than I've previous managed.
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- Matt did not need to carry the world on his shoulders alone, neither do I, neither do you.
- I believe demonstrating Love for each other, through our actions will honor Matt
- As will allowing ourselves to be loved by each other

- Kate, Matt loves you very much. He is still here with you. His love for you is still here, right here, right now, and always will be.
- Never doubt that. Never forget that.
- I believe Giving and Receiving Love will honor Matt.

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2nd thing.) is Truth ... Honesty ... Radical Unusual Honesty.
- What I mean by that goes well beyond merely not telling lies

- Monday. UT building John 8:32 "You shall know the truth and the truth and the truth shall set you free"

- 🤠 Now a corollary to that I've heard is:
- Set you free but.... Not before it breaks it's foot off in your ass a few times. That's funny, because it's true too. 🤠
- The truth is powerful, and it's often quite scary. Both.
- Something else I've heard: "We are only as sick as our secrets." That's the flip side of the coin to "the truth will set us free". "Secrets" things we cant find the courage to say , imprison us
- It's a prison made out of fear.
- Speaking the truth sets us free from fear.
- Because the truth is often scary, speaking the truth requires courage.
- If it was easy, everyone would be doing it all the time, and clearly we flawed humans dont do as often as we could.

- Matt had a way of being very direct and not holding back punches in what he said to us.
- If there is ever something eating at you, please share it with someone who loves you.
- They can handle it. 🤠 They might not like you very much for a moment, 🤠
- But there are people in your life who love you, people who WILL the GOOD of YOU.
- Be they parents, friends, bothers and sisters, wives, husbands or girlfriends and boyfriends.
- The people who love you can handle it
- Give the people who love you the opportunity to demonstrate their love for you
- Give yourself the opportunity to Experience just how loved you are
- Because you are. All of you are.
- I believe having the courage to speak and hear the truth will honor Matt.

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3rd.) Faith/Hope vs Uncertainty/Control
- The older I get, the more I learn,
- The more I realize just how little I know, and how little control I have over what happens in life
- This is not a comfortable state of affairs
- What I'd prefer is to have unshakable faith and unwavering hope
- I wrestle with this a lot. It's not an easy thing for me.

- I'd like to share with you the best strategy I've found
- Which is to "Act as if"
- To act as if I have Faith in God and Hope from his plans for us all
- To act as if, even when I'm not actually feeling it
- This turns faith and hope into a decision, an action, not just a feeling
- I've found that by doing this, the feeling comes and grows, like a seed, slowly over time.
- This works.

- So if we love people. We will the good of them. We allow other people to love us. We accept that there are other people willing our good too.
- We summon courage to tell the truth. We try our best to hear the truth others speak to us. Even if it makes us mad or hurts us.
- If we do that, How's this life thing gonna work out then?
- Have we now cracked the code?
- Will we have it all figured out so that life will be all rosy now?
- Is God going to now start doing MY will instead of his will?
- These are difficult question that I often struggle with
- Perhaps some of you do too

- What would Matt say to me about Faith and Hope?
- Here is what I think he'd say:
- Make the DECISION to live life with Faith and Hope
- Act "as if" when necessary, that God has a plan for us all,
- Especially in times of chaos, pain and confusion,
- When nothing seems to make any sense
- That things will in the end turn out just as they should, and are meant to be
- I believe making the DECISION, to live life with Faith and Hope, will Honor Matt.

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Conclusion:
So, why was Matt here?
I've given you some of my thoughts
I now ask you. What is Matt's legacy, for you, personally?
How could you live life differently, from this day forward, to honor Matt?
I humbly ask everyone to ask this question yourself, for yourself,
for those you love, and for those who love you,
To find your own answers and to live your life by them.

I humbly ask that when you are trying to decide what to do and what not to do,
In the inevitable messiness of life.
Ask yourself : What would Matt tell me to do with this?
🤠 As many of you know all too well, Matt usually wasn't very subtle about how he delivered a message, so I think you'll know the answer, clear as day. 🤠

What would honor Matt?
That's something I will be asking myself for the rest of my life.
I invite you to ask that question and and answer it for yourself too.

Matt's time here was short,
Much shorter than we would have liked, and yet
It was also a blessing. He was a blessing
Let's not waste the blessing he was and always will be.

Thank you all for being here and
For helping us honor Matt,
My son, always, forever.
I Love You Matt ❤️

After two decades of serving the off-road community, it is with heavy hearts that we announce we have to close our doors. We assure you every other option has been extensively explored. This is the last outcome we ever imagined for the company we have worked so hard to build. The last few years of economic hardship and rising cost of goods has been detrimental for small businesses. We have heard all of your frustrations and understand completely; we are working hard to assure the best outcome for a terrible situation. Thank you for your years of support and your patience as we navigate this difficult process.

We, along with most of Houston, are still without power from this winter storm. We’re sorry we still cannot address your phone calls, but we’ll return emails as soon as the roads open up and we have ⚡️⚡️ back! Thanks y’all

ShrockWorks is closed today due to inclement weather! Phones are down so please send us an email if you need assistance and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience, gulf coast Texans struggle in temps below about 50°! ❄️☃️❄️

ShrockWorks is throwing a couple gift certificates into the raffle at for their Muddygras event this weekend. Just one more reason to show up!!