Our Inspired Journey

This Thoughtful Thursday post is written by a man I admire and respect very deeply.  He has been a professional in the financial world for many years, but if asked he would tell you that his deepest longing is to follow after the Lord, wherever that journey may take him.  

I'm thankful the Lord lead him to the role of being my Dad, most of all. 

I pray your heart is stirred as you read his account of two lives beautifully lived.

May their perspective change you today, as it has me.

To God be the glory...

***

Forty Years, Lesson by Lesson

Lesson Four: The Happiest People I’ve Ever Known

It was five forty-five in the afternoon and Herbert and Edna were expected at six o’clock.  I arose from my desk and went to my office window.  Six stories up, I surveyed the panorama of the August afternoon sun shining brightly over the valley and distant hills.  I would be meeting Herb and Edna for the first time.  She had called because they wanted to know if they were financially able to help someone go to college.  She said, “We’ve received statements and notices over the years but we don’t understand any of it, could you help us?”  “Of course,” I said, “just bring in the statements dated most recently and I will help you understand them.”

The parking lot below was nearly empty at that time of day, so I kept watch to get an early glimpse of my appointment’s arrival.  Minutes later, a dark green four door sedan pulled in.  From a distance, it appeared to be a very old car.  It proceeded slowly, as if the driver was tentative about where to park before finally selecting a parking space.  The driver’s door opened and an older man emerged.  I started to look away thinking that he was alone and that I was waiting for someone else.  Then he slowly rounded the back of the car and approached the passenger door.  Once opened, he leaned over and offered the passenger his arm.  With a shopping bag in one hand, she grasped his arm with the other and emerged.  Holding his elbow securely, they slowly crossed through the parking lot and disappeared into the building entrance below.

With the receptionist gone for the day, I went to the foyer to personally greet them.  From inside the glass office doors, I observed them as they exited the elevator.  She was neatly dressed in a long, blue patterned dress.  He, on the other hand, wore a tattered long-sleeve plaid shirt, blue jeans soiled at the knees and dusty old brown shoes.  I opened the doors, greeted them and introduced myself.  They looked up and smiled graciously.  Edna was immediately apologetic, “Please forgive him.  I just can’t get him to dress the way he should.  He never wants to leave his garden.”   As she was speaking, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.  When she had finished, she looked at him with exasperation exclaiming, “Oh you.”

High school sweethearts, Herb and Edna had been married fifty seven years, lived in the same three bedrooms home for thirty nine years, attended the same church for 21 years and owned the same car (the one they arrived in) for over forty years (Herb bought it used in 1958).  Herb loved his garden and Edna was quick to warn that “at the drop of a hat” he was a risk to go on at length about his plants.  Edna and her “dear friends” were loyal to their volunteer work, raising funds for missionaries.  Mostly, Herb and Edna loved being with each other.  Each day began with a morning walk and ended reading through the same book together in matching, side-by-side arm chairs (they always bought two copies of the same book).  They wanted for nothing and found pleasure in everything of life together.

They were not able to have children of their own but were fond of a boy who attended their church.  The boy was attempting to earn some of the money he would need for college and they wanted to help.  Herb had been a career maintenance worker until he retired from a local aerospace firm eight years previous.  The brown shopping bag she held contained statements they had received from a retirement savings plan that he had participated in before retiring. 

Now seated in front of my desk, we emptied the bag’s contents and I began to survey his statements.  They joined hands and fixated their hopeful stares on me anxious for my assessment.  I sorted the statements by postmark to find the most recent.  As I opened the statement, numbers appeared that I didn’t expect.  I continued to examine the statement format to confirm I had read the information correctly.  Edna could wait no longer.  “Well,” she said, “what do they say?”  Looking at them intently I responded, “This statement indicates that you have over 1.2 million dollars in this account."  Gasping, Edna exclaimed “Oh no!”

Herb was never a highly paid worker but as he said, “they always had so much more than they needed.”  “After giving to the church,” he continued, “we thought it was good to save.”  A friend at work had recommended the company retirement plan.  After learning how his savings along with other company contributions had accumulated, there was much for them to consider and many decisions to make.  But after our discussion, it was clear they intended to access only an amount for the boy at church.  They did not need or want the rest.  They shared love, happiness and were completely at peace, they relished their blessings and wished for nothing more.

When teaching his young apprentice Timothy, the apostle Paul counseled, “But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.  For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.  If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.  But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:6-10)