Embedded Files
February 2, 2026
Subject: You Can’t Pay for What’s Already Been Purchased
Dear Alexis, Ian, Noah, Anna, Eli, Josiah, Emily, Levi, Isaac, and Mathias,
Several years ago when I was on a business trip to Japan, the president of the company I was visiting, Sagashiki, invited me to play golf with him and several of his associates. Of course I didn’t have any golf clubs with me, and being nearly 7,000 miles from home, it wasn’t like I could say, “Sure, just give me a few minutes so I can go home and get my clubs.” But, just like in the United States, I figured I could simply rent some clubs at the golf course. This was confirmed when on the morning of our outing, Mr. Edyoshi, the president of Sagashiki, picked me up in his car and when I asked about clubs, he simply said, “No problem.”
When we arrived at the golf course, I immediately went into the clubhouse and asked the attendant if I could rent some clubs and buy a golf glove. After a lot of pantomiming and pigeon English, I finally made myself understood and was properly outfitted with clubs, a pull behind cart, and a new glove. At the check in counter I pulled out my debit card preparing to pay but the attendant simply waved his hands at me saying something in Japanese I could not understand. He then motioned behind me so I turned around and saw Nobuteru, the adult son of Mr. Edyoshi, standing in the door. I gave him a quizzical look to which he replied smiling, “You cannot pay for what has already been purchased.” It was then I understood that all along his dad had a plan for how I would be able to enter the golf course and play. He had sent his son, Nobuteru, to let me know it was all paid for.
This story was once again brought to mind this past Sunday when during his sermon our pastor said, “Don’t try to pay for what’s already been purchased.” So many people believe the only way to get into heaven is to be a good person, for the good deeds we do during our lives to out weigh the bad deeds. They believe it’s as if we will stand before St. Peter at the check in counter, pull out our debit card and see if there is enough balance of good deeds on it to offset the charges of debts. In his sermon, our pastor was referring to the fact there is no way for us to pay our way into heaven because it has already been paid for. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay our debt before we ever get to the check in counter.
I don’t know about the ten of you, but even though I have known this simple, yet complex truth for many years, I still find myself trying to earn my way to heaven; counting the good things I have done; comparing myself to others to see if I am better than they are so I will get to heaven. It’s crazy I know, but after being a Christian, a believer in Christ for over 50 years, I still need to be reminded of the work Jesus did on the cross to die in our place so we might live forever in heaven. I still need to be reminded He paid for everything so there is no way I can pay for it. There is no need. It’s been paid for, just like my clubs, cart, glove and entrance fee to the golf course had already been paid for before I ever stepped up to the check in counter.
The apostle Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians,“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, ESV)
So what is it we must have faith in if we are to be saved from what we really owe and be admitted into heaven? Romans 10:9 says, “...because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (ESV)
And finally, Colossians 2:13-14 says, “...having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (ESV)
The next time you begin counting up your good deeds and comparing them to the bad things you’ve done, trying to figure out if you are good enough to get to heaven, I hope you will remember my story about playing golf in Japan and remember if you are a true believer in Jesus Christ and all He did for us on the cross, your entrance fee has already been paid.
Love,
Papa
December 31, 2025
Subject: Keep Your Gas Tank Full
Dear Alexis, Ian, Noah, Anna, Eli, Josiah, Emily, Levi, Isaac, Mathias,
As you know, I own an antique, 1952 British sports car. More specifically, a 1952 MG TD. A friend who owns a similar car once told me, “You work on a British sports car all week just so you can drive it on the week-end.” He was right. I spend more time working on it to keep it running than I do actually driving it. But that’s okay because I enjoy updating it, troubleshooting problems, and making improvements to it.
However, there is one problem that really frustrates me which I hate dealing with. Because I don’t drive it all that much, it sits in my garage quite a bit. While it is sitting in the garage, it is really important to keep the gas tank full of gasoline all the time because like any other car, the air inside the gas tank contains some amount of water vapor. Then, when the temperature in my garage changes, the water vapor in the gas tank will condense and form water droplets that contaminates the gasoline. I can tell you firsthand that a car will not run on gasoline contaminated with water. To make matters worse, the water in the gas tank causes rust to form on the sides of the tank which then further contaminates the gasoline.
There is a very easy solution to the problem and that is to simply keep the gas tank full of gasoline. As long as it is full, there is no room for contamination. But sometimes I forget to fill up the tank; or I don’t have time to stop to do it; or maybe I just don’t feel like it. Pretty soon after I have ignored it long enough, the car will no longer run right. It was made to run on gasoline; not contaminates like water and rust.
Our lives are a lot like my MG. God made us specifically to live in harmony with Him. The way we do that is to study His scripture, meditate on it, and talk to him on a daily basis in order to keep our spiritual tank full. When our spiritual tank is full, there isn’t room for any contaminates. Things like greed, hate, lust, coveting, jealousy, pride, and many other bad things simply won’t have room in our thoughts and lives when our spiritual tank is filled.
Jesus said, “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” (Matthew 12:34-35, NIV) In other words, we are what we think. If our mind is full of evil things, then that is what we will be; evil. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (NIV) If your mind and heart are full of good things, then that is what your life will reflect.
Get in the habit now, while you are young, of spending time filling up your spiritual tank so that when contaminates come along, your heart won’t have any room for them.
Love,
Papa
January 5, 2026
Subject: Those Who Do Not Learn From History Are Doomed to Repeat It
Dear Alexis, Ian, Noah, Anna, Eli, Josiah, Emily, Levi, Isaac, and Mathias,
I should probably state before beginning that I am neither in support of, nor against any particular political party. But, there are very, very few politicians of either party I would consider supporting, although I am definitely conservative. However, it doesn’t mean I do not have strong opinions of events unfolding in our world today.
I also am certainly not a war monger or even consider myself a “hawk”, although I have a very hard time sitting idly by as hostile factions do everything they can to destroy Western civilization; especially since seven of you will soon be able bodied young men of age who could end up in such a war.
History will decide if we as Americans were in the right or the wrong when it comes to the morality of our international decisions. As a student of history, I mourn the fact that so many of us pay no attention to the past in spite of the truth that “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” I love the following quote from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.” “It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” Today, due to the shrinking of the world, we all live close to multiple dragons.
1933 was known as “The Year Of The Devils.” The entire world was still reeling from WWI and as a result, much of the western world such as England, France and North America supported pacifism and isolationism. Beginning in February, the Oxford Union Society, a student debate organization at Oxford University in England, adopted a motion which became known as “The Oxford Oath,” by a vote of 275 to 153, to “...under no circumstances fight for King and Country.” Within a few months, in April 1934, over 25,000 students in the United States gathered to protest in favor of pacifism and by April 1935 over 60,000 students signed a similar creed. Historians agree the Oxford Oath did as much as anything else to embolden Germany’s new leader, Adolf Hitler.
At the beginning of 1933, the USA had a new president; Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In early 1933 he signed into law the Neutrality Acts, banning US arms sales and loans to countries at war, regardless of the circumstances, further emboldening Hitler and his agenda.
The Japanese emperor, Hirohito, had recently been “formally reborn as a living god” with absolute command of the military, known as Showa, “shining peace.” After signing several naval treaties in 1922 and 1930, Japan began modernizing it’s fleet in violation of those treaties; to no one’s complaint. His goal was to convert Japan into a vast colonial empire and China was required due to it’s natural resources. After invading Manchuria in 1931, Japan launched a massive attack on China’s Great Wall and bombed civilian populations in virtually every major Chinese city.
By the spring of 1933 in Stalin’s Russia, his communist policy of collectivization created a famine of biblical proportions, starving between 5 and 7 million people. In the Ukraine alone, once the breadbasket of Europe, about 3.5 million out of a total population of 33 million were dead. Opponents of his policies, including his forbidding of religious activity, were sent to concentration camps.
In June 1933, Italy’s Benito Mussolini, negotiated the Four-Power Pact, a new peace agreement between Italy, England, France and Germany, supposedly “assuring European peace for a decade,” according to The New York Times. While negotiating the terms of the pact, he was secretly drawing up plans to invade Ethiopia to make it a colonial possession.
Finally, in January 1933, the author of “Mein Kampf,” the book that stated, “The Jews have made no contribution to human culture and in crushing them I am doing the will of the Lord,” Adolf Hitler was elevated to power as Germany’s chancellor. Two days later, he dissolved Germany’s parliament. Within months this charismatic leader had “Natzified” not only the German Lutheran Church, but also the German Catholic Church, effectively eliminating any moral compass remaining in Germany. In May, thousands of university students burned more than 10,000 books deemed to be at odds with Hitler’s Third Reich policies. Four countries, four devils.
For the next nearly six years, the world turned a blind eye to the Four Devils. In late summer 1938, Germany began occupying part of Czechoslovakia and commenced in September of that year negotiating a treaty with the United Kingdom, France and Italy resulting in the Munich Agreement which gave them all of Czechoslovakia. Hitler announced it was his last territorial conquest in Western Europe, causing the UK Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain to announce in a speech, “My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour," adding, "I believe it is peace for our time". Before a year had passed, in September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland beginning the domino effect leading to World War II.
“So what?” you may say. “How does that relate to today? That is ancient history that could not be repeated today.” My answer is, “Don’t be naive.” Today we have more than four “dragons living near us.” Leaders that cannot be trusted anymore than Hitler could be trusted. Vladimir Putin (Russia), Xi Jinping (China), Kim Jong Un (North Korea), Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Iran), and yes, even Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela. To repeat a question asked by historian Joseph Loconte, “What is demanded of us, as morally responsible people, when we face an all-devouring force of evil?” I just hope our answer is not to ignore the dragon on our doorstep and state, “There will be peace in our time.”
I'll end with a quote from the 18th century British statesman, Edmund Burke who said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Love,
Papa
December 25, 2025
Subject: My Favorite Christmas Gift Received in July
Dear Alexis, Ian, Noah, Anna, Eli, Josiah, Emily, Levi, Isaac, Mathias,
As I sit here on Christmas morning, I started reflecting on the best gift I had ever received. In fact, during this entire Christmas season I had been thinking about this particular gift even though it was not a Christmas or birthday gift.
It had already been a long day when I got home from work on that hot, July evening. The last thing I wanted to do was take a bicycle ride with Gramma and our nearly two year old son, Aaron. Gramma was nine months pregnant with our daughter Carrie but she still wanted to get out of the house where she had been cooped up with a two year old for the past ten hours while I was away at my new job trying to begin my career and impress my employers.
We were living in the little town of Sweetser, Indiana, trying to get our feet on the ground while building our first house which was only slightly bigger than the one bedroom house we were currently renting. Even though the rental only had a single bedroom, Gramma had fixed up the enclosed back porch as a bedroom for Aaron, his crib and his toys so we could have some privacy in the tiny bedroom at the front of the house. The single window air conditioner did little to cool the entire house during the blistering summer afternoons in central Indiana. By the end of the afternoons, it was cooler to sit on the front porch under the shade of the oak trees than it was to be inside the “air conditioned” living room.
One of my favorite things to do to relax and cool off in the evening was to sit on the porch and enjoy an ice cold Pepsi. I would never drink the whole bottle since we could barely afford to buy it in the first place. So I would pour half a bottle over some ice in a glass, sit and sip it making it last as long as I could. This particular week had been especially tight financially as we were trying to stretch my meager beginning paycheck over paying rent, building the house, paying the utility bills, buying groceries and planning for another baby. Because Gramma became pregnant with Carrie while we were still in school before I had begun my job, we had no insurance to pay the doctor or hospital. So, we were trying to save enough money to pay those bills when they came. Therefore, when we visited the grocery over the week-end, we didn’t have enough money to buy my Pepsi for the week.
On this evening, Gramma had decided it would be cooler to be pedaling and experiencing the breeze rather than sitting on the porch, so as tired as I was, I got the bikes out, strapped Aaron into the back carrier and we began cruising around town. Gramma took the lead as we headed down the street toward the little downtown. As small as Sweetser is today, it was even smaller back then. But, in 1978 it did still have a grocery store, hardware store and three gas stations.
After riding past the downtown area we came to our little Methodist Church where Gramma made a right turn, heading toward the Marathon gas station. When we came to the stop sign in front of the gas station, she continued on through the intersection and into the parking lot then stopped right next to the pop machine. She dug into her pants pocket, pulled out a quarter and slipped it into the machine before punching the button for a Pepsi. I listened as the machine ground out some noises then clicked to release the bottle as she opened the door and reached in to pull it out. She proceeded to open it on the machine’s bottle opener, then handed it to me.
I stood there straddling my bike with my mouth agape. “Where did you get the money to buy that?” I asked, knowing that we didn’t have a spare cent in the house.
“After you left for work this morning I started cleaning the house. When I lifted up the cushions to the sofa, I found this quarter and immediately knew what I would spend it on.”
I was dumbfounded. She could have spent it on a treat for herself or for Aaron, but she chose to spend it on me. Instead of thinking of herself, she sacrificially thought of me.
In the 48 birthdays and 48 Christmases since that evening, I have never received a gift that meant more to me than the single bottle of Pepsi-Cola on that hot, July evening. It wasn’t even a gift giving day. But, isn’t that what gifts were originally supposed to be about? Sacrificing something of yourself in order to give something to another person? At least that was what the original Christmas gift was all about when God gave up his very own Son so all of us may have life.
This Christmas when you are worrying about whether you spent enough on the gift you are giving, just remember that the preciousness of the gift is not in how much money it costs, but in how much of you it is giving.
Love,
Papa
December 6, 2025
Subject: The Love of a Mother
Dear Alexis, Ian, Noah, Anna, Eli, Josiah, Emily, Levi, Isaac, Mathias,
It was the week before Christmas on a Thursday evening just two months after my tenth birthday. Normally I dreaded Thursday evenings because it was the night I had to forgo watching Cheyenne on television in order to go to the small church two blocks from our house for children’s choir practice. But this Thursday was different. Our all boys choir would be wading through the snow covered sidewalks, going house to house in our town of about 300 houses, singing Christmas carols at the top of our lungs as the streetlights began to blink on. Just like last year, I looked forward to making our way through the neighborhoods where we would see the flashing lights of Christmas trees as they reflected through the windows of the little houses and onto the white, snow blanketed lawns. I had been looking forward to this all month. A few of the residents would hand out candy canes or homemade Christmas treats when we had completed our rendition of Silent Night. After which we would noisily yell our thanks and stomp off their porches breaking the reverie in search of our next venue. It was a great time with about ten or fifteen of my buddies having snowball fights in between singing and eating our goodies. Afterwards, we would all gather together back at the church to warm up with hot chocolate and decorated Christmas cookies brought in by our mothers when they came to pick us up. It sure beat standing in a row, practicing “Onward Christian Soldiers” time after time as my buddy Pat’s mom pounded it out on the piano.
I hurriedly finished my homework, fed the dogs and wolfed down my supper that mom had quickly prepared for us after she got home from her job of teaching school. With papers to grade and homework to do of her own for the night classes she was taking, I’m sure she was also looking forward to some time to herself without two young banshees running around the house playing cowboys and Indians. At 6:15 she told us to hurry up and get on our coats so she could walk us the two blocks to the church. We sure didn’t want to be late for our 6:30 starting time.
As we walked to the church, my brother Rick and I discussed what treats we might get and who might be handing out the best ones. It was a cold evening and the snow was still falling when we opened the door to Fellowship Hall and were greeted with the welcome blast of warm air and the smell of hot chocolate and cookies. Inside, all of my buddies were sipping their drinks and eating cookies shaped like Christmas Trees and Santa Clauses. But wait. Weren’t we going to have our snack after we had gone caroling? When I said we were ready to go, they all started laughing. Pat piped up, “You missed it. We’ve already finished. You were supposed to be here at 5:30.” I still remember staring at the smug look on his freckled face as I stood there not knowing what to do.
I looked up at Mom who had a completely dumbfounded look on her face. For the first time in my life, my mom didn’t know what to do either. Then, I saw that dumbfounded look begin to disappear as her eyes began to glisten and a tear roll down her cheek. Reverend Hess, our choir director, came over and softly talked to her just before she turned around and quietly slipped out the door. Rick and I loosened our scarves, pulled off our trapper hats and picked up a couple of cookies as someone poured us both a cup of hot chocolate.
As we were eating, Reverend Hess announced that our “break” would soon be over and we would be heading back out to sing some more. It didn’t take a genius to figure out he was cutting short the food fest so Rick and I could do some caroling. Soon we were out on the street throwing snowballs and singing at the few homes our buddies had missed earlier. Our bellies were warmed not only by the hot chocolate we had just finished, but also by the goodwill of our pastor to ensure we got to participate in the annual tradition of our choir.
Later that evening when we got home, Mom was nowhere to be found. When we told Dad about our good time and what Reverend Hess had done, he said, “Mom is in the bedroom laying down. I think you should go in and tell her what a nice time you had and that you still got to have fun singing, eating and playing even though you were late.” When I cracked the door to their bedroom, I heard her softly sobbing in the darkness. I walked to the side of the bed and didn’t say a word, but laid down beside her and put my arms around her. After a while, she stopped crying. Only then did I tell her what a nice time we’d had and that we hadn’t missed a thing. It wasn’t until many years later that I began to understand why she had been crying.
In 1965, Mom had just finished her bachelors degree by going to school at nights in order to become a schoolteacher and supplement our family’s income. Although no longer a requirement today, shortly after obtaining her bachelors degree, Indiana decreed that elementary school teachers must either be working toward or have completed a masters degree. So, as soon as she completed her bachelors and she thought she was finished, she had to start back to school again to get her masters.
During this same time, she was caring for my grandmother who lived next door to us. Grandma had both, breast cancer with a double mastectomy and Parkinson’s disease, which was slowly eroding her ability to live a normal life. Mom had all of this going on in her life while holding down a full time job teaching and taking care of her family which included two overactive, rambunctious young boys and a husband who besides teaching full time also coached and worked side jobs, keeping him away from home a lot. In spite of all of this, I don’t think I ever awoke in the morning without hearing the rattle of pans in the kitchen meaning their would soon be bacon and eggs, french toast, or pancakes for breakfast. And, she never failed to have a hot supper on the table after arriving home from school before she began her nightly ritual of grading papers and studying for her own classes. Through all of this, I never once heard my mother complain. Only one time did I ever see her cry, and that was when she thought she had let her boys down by getting the time wrong for their evening of caroling. It was the only time I ever remember my mother losing it. I think the stress of all she was going through finally broke her that evening. But, at the time, I had no idea. I think as kids we never understand that our parents are also human, have dreams and go through difficult times. We think they are perfect and always have the right answer to everything when in fact they have the same doubts and struggles we do as kids.
I was reminded of this episode from my life when I visited Mom today in her assisted living facility to take her out for ice cream. She is now the one who has survived breast cancer, but rather than the ravages of Parkinson’s like her mother, at age 92 she is suffering from dementia which is robbing her of her most precious memories. I have learned to listen carefully when she tells me for the fourth time in fifteen minutes that she has decided to switch hairdressers. Or the third time she said she just had a thought; the next time we go away to visit our grandkids she will come house sit for us. Or when she says she hasn’t heard from her sisters in forever, forgetting they have passed away. The most embarrassing for both of us is after she realizes she introduced me to her friends as her husband. When I get frustrated with her repeated questions or stories over and over, I try to remember back to the times when I was repeatedly asking her, “Are we there yet?” when on a trip of more than ten minutes. Or the times I turned up my nose at the dinner she hurriedly made after getting home exhausted from parent/teacher conferences. Or all the times I forgot to say “Thank-you” when she baked cookies.
One of the very first commandments God gave is found in Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (NIV) It is the only one of the ten commandments that comes with a promise. Honor our fathers and mothers so that we may live long. It doesn’t say “love your parents”, or even “like your parents.” It says “honor your parents.” So what does that mean? When I asked Google AI what it means to honor your parents, it gave the best, most concise answer I’ve heard: “Show them deep respect through actions like obedience, providing for their needs, and treating them with dignity, regardless of their actions.”
During this Christmas Season, try to think less about what you want Santa to bring you and more about some way you can honor your mom and dad. After all, they have feelings just like you do. They are just better at hiding them and sacrificing their desires in order that you might get yours.
Love,
Papa
November 25, 2025
Subject: Reading Glasses Or Binoculars?
Dear Alexis, Ian, Noah, Anna, Eli, Josiah, Emily, Levi, Isaac, and Mathias,
All of my life I have looked forward with great anticipation to what lies ahead. When I was in elementary school, I couldn’t wait to “graduate” and join with the elementary schools from two other towns to form our school corporation’s Junior High School. I was just sure life would be much better. The girls would be prettier, the subjects more interesting, and the activities more exciting. Then, no sooner had I settled into my new school than I was looking forward to High School and all the grown up benefits that came with that. I would be able to drive to school as well as tons of activities. There would be dances, band concerts, ballgames, student government, clubs, and so much more. But, after just a year of high school, in the fall of my sophomore year, I was invited to go to a college football game at Indiana University with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. From the moment I stepped onto campus, I knew that college was the ultimate goal and I absolutely couldn’t wait to get out of high school.
This same pattern continued after I started college. Not long after I arrived, I was looking at ways to finish quicker so I could join the working world and make “real money.” Then, once I had graduated and started working as an engineer, I was constantly looking for a new job where I could advance my career and make more money.
Binoculars are a great tool for looking at things in the distance. The only problem is, when you’re looking through them, you miss everything that is happening right under your nose. In hindsight, I can now look back on all I missed because I couldn’t see the good things right in front of me due to looking through binoculars at things in the distance.
Some people say that with age comes wisdom. I’m not so sure it has anything to do with age because even into retirement I continued to search for a better life. Shortly after I retired at age 52, Gramma and I sold our home, packed up all of our belongings into our storage building, and began traveling, partially as means of exploring the country in search of the very best place to retire. You know what? We never found it. Every time we thought we had found the perfect place, eventually we would discover something about it that we didn’t like. It was too cold in the winter, or it was too hot in the summer. The crime rate was to high. Taxes or the cost of living was too high. The roads were bad. There weren’t good restaurants or shopping. People were unfriendly. Traffic was too bad. Something about each and every place made it undesirable for us to retire and build a home there. We simply could not find the perfect place.
What I realize now is that wisdom doesn’t come with age. It comes with experience and the ability to learn from those experiences no matter what age you are. I’ve learned two lessons from this realization:
1.) Instead of using binoculars to look into the distance, I need to use reading glasses to focus on what is right in front of my nose.
2.) I will never find paradise on earth because it isn’t here.
The Bible actually has quite a bit to say about both of these. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (ESV) He is saying, “Stop worrying about tomorrow. Enjoy today and tomorrow will take care of itself.” And Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (ESV) In other words, God made today; be happy and enjoy it.
As to the second lesson, Hebrews 13:14 is pretty clear when it says, “For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.” (NLT) And, “Our citizenship is in heaven…” (Philippians 3:20a ESV) In other words, we don’t belong here. Not until we reach heaven will we find the perfect place and feel at home. We will never be at home here because it simply is not our home. In comparison to eternity, we are only visiting for a short time.
So does this mean that we should not try to improve our lives while we are here on earth. I don’t think so. I think it simply means we need to understand that this is not all there is. Something much greater is in store for us when we are believers in Christ. When we come to understand that, then we can learn to be content with what we have whether it is a lot or little, knowing that it is only temporary. The Apostle Paul said it best in Philippians. “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.” (Philippians 4:11-12 NAS)
This is probably one of the hardest lessons to learn in our lives as Christians. I wish I could tell you that I have learned it and I am always content. But the honest truth is, I still enjoy searching the internet with the phrase “Best Places to Live.” However, at least when someone asks me, “Out of all the places you have lived, where is your favorite?” I now can answer, “All of them.” In spite of continuing to search for something better, I now realize I may never find anything better than what I have and therefore I have found what I’m looking for – contentment. I pray it does not take you 70 years to find it.
Love,
Papa
July 20, 2025
Subject: Encouragers In Time of Need
Dear Alexis, Ian, Noah, Anna, Eli, Josiah, Levi, Emily, Isaac and Mathias,
It was supposed to be a time of great celebration. Our oldest son, your Dad or Uncle Aaron, was graduating from High School. Because he was also the oldest grandchild and nephew on either side of our extended family, almost the entire extended family had traveled to witness the right of passage and celebrate with us. We had a house full of people.
At the time, my dad was 64 years old and still ten years away from his passing. But, he was not in good health having experienced cancer, kidney failure and a kidney transplant, a heart attack and a quintuple bypass surgery, as well as multiple other issues including degenerative spinal issues. In short, he was a physical mess at that relatively young age.
Just as we were about to begin a pre-graduation celebratory lunch, Dad started hyperventilating and immediately laid down on the couch, clutching his upper chest. Thinking he was having another heart attack, within minutes we called the ambulance and he was whisked away to Riverside Hospital in nearby Columbus.
Wanting to interrupt the festivities as little as possible, yet still care for my father and be there for my mother, as soon as the ambulance departed, I quietly went to my office and called my friend Paul to explain the situation. I knew he would help make any changes in the graduation ceremony at Aaron’s school in the event Aaron would not be able to be present to give the closing prayer since he was class chaplain. And, I wanted to ask if he would please call some other friends to begin praying for my dad.
Following that call, I went to look for Aaron before I left for the hospital. I wanted to let him know I would be at his graduation, but needed to leave for now to be with both my mom and dad. However, I couldn’t locate him amid all the other people. As one last attempt at finding him, I bounded upstairs and gently opened the door to his bedroom. Sitting there in his old dilapidated easy chair was Aaron with tears streaking down his face, praying for his grandfather. I quietly closed the door, ran back downstairs and grabbed my jacket. As I kissed Gramma goodbye I told her to try and keep everything else as normal as possible for Aaron, then headed to the garage and the car.
Once I got to the hospital, I learned that the doctors had already determined it was not a heart attack, but they had admitted Dad for observation for the rest of the day and night. I had been in his room about ten minutes when I heard a light knock at the open doorway. When I stood and looked around the corner, there stood my friend Paul, motioning me to come outside into the hallway. I couldn’t believe he was there, in spite of having his own son, Uncle Aaron’s best friend Nate, graduating that afternoon. In fact, Paul was also scheduled to provide the opening speech at the graduation ceremony which was to begin in just a couple of hours.
As I walked out into the hallway with Paul, he held up a small Gideon’s Pocket Bible to me and said, “I thought you might need some encouragement so I brought you a Bible and wanted to pray with you briefly.” I immediately began to tear up, but not because my dad was sick. I was crying because it meant so much to me that Paul would care enough to interrupt his own firstborn’s graduation celebration to come be with me and encourage me in a time of need.
That isn’t the only time in my life that Christian friends have gone out of their way to encourage me when I’ve been in difficult circumstances. About ten years later after Dad’s episode at Aaron’s graduation, he passed away during a particularly difficult time for me in our business when we were negotiating to sell one of our companies. I was already stressed, but Dad’s passing nearly had me at a breaking point.
As I was standing in the receiving line at his visitation the evening before his funeral, I saw three of my senior staff members from our company walk into the room. They had driven a round trip of nearly seven hours to come be with me that evening and encourage me. I don’t think I shed a tear all evening until I saw them. I don’t remember a word they said. I just remember they were there for me.
The Apostle Paul has a lot to say about encouraging one another. In I Thessalonians he tells us, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (I Thess 5:11 ESV) And in Romans he says, “Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” (Rom 15:2 ESV) But he’s not the only writer of scripture who exhorts us to lift each other up. There are many other verses in the New Testament, and stories from the Old Testament where we are reminded of this important assignment. For example, the writer of Hebrews says, “And let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds.” (Heb 10:24 ESV)
Until you have had someone care enough to cry along with you, or provide words of encouragement, you can have no idea how much it means. The next time you have a friend who you know is hurting, be that person who comes alongside them and “is just there.”
Love,
Papa
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