Stay the Course and Savor the Journey
I walked into my father’s office. I watched as he packed up 40 years of work in cardboard boxes. I was worried for him. He was riding out his last months before his official retirement in May of 2014. Since his appointment as president of Evangel University in 1974, he had given himself to the development of a struggling faith- based institution. From the day he began his work, my father never took his hand off the wheel of leadership. With the Lord’s guidance, he sculpted the vision for the university; students would earn an education that would integrate their faith in Christ with their sacred calling of vocation, as teachers, accountants, doctors, lawyers, artists, or pastors. Traveling and promoting Evangel, he logged enough miles to lap the earth. He was the point man for raising over $100 million to transform the campus from a World War II Army hospital into a liberal arts institution that sent out global-impact leaders. He now sat across the office, carefully organizing his files. Watching him, I sensed the reality of his legacy.
This was not a moment of celebration to me; I was worried. I finally asked the question burdening me. “Dad, what are you going to do?” He looked up from his boxes and asked, “What do you mean?” I told him I was afraid of what retirement would do to him, that someone who had given his soul to something for so long and then walked away was in danger of a major identity crisis. He then looked at me the same way he did when I was a teenager and stuck in my adolescent assumptions about life. His response has become my compass for endurance, for a life well lived. He told me,
“Since September of 1953, I have been responsible for leading an organization. I have always done my best. Because of that, I can walk away in peace.”
This was the secret, or maybe not so much a secret, just a difficult thing to do consistently. That statement is etched in my soul.
At the core of this statement is personal responsibility. I have learned that dedication to what is in my hand is the best way to live out responsibility. I quit worrying about climbing upward and focused my energy on deepening my roots inward and expanding my reach outward.
We are all on the clock. Time has become a fascination of mine. Whether I am teaching a class or grading papers, or teaching my son how to throw a perfect spiral, I expect to be inspired by these interactions. Every conversation with a person has the power to lift the environment.
We row together. I’ve learned an important element of endurance involves the care of others. Yes, we are responsible to care for those around us, but it is equally important to accept care from others.
An unrealistic expectation of fathers is that we must be protectors and providers, with no need for help from those in our care. Yes, our families need us, but we equally need them. Yet, endurance requires a team effort defined by collaborative support. The writer of Hebrews created a default for us to remember those who have gutted it out before us in this faith journey. They are cheering us on. I like to expand that to those who are still with us; they encourage us with hydration of clarity and the nourishment of affirmation. Above all, we lock on to Christ; he gives us what we need to clear clutter, work through distracting sin, and run with supernatural strength so that we may reach the goal He has set before us.
Amen.
Read more of Stay the Course and Savor the Journey by Dr. Jon Spence in Kinsmen Journal Volume 1 — Purchase here.
