old...
This last week I was on a retreat in the mountains of North Carolina, put on by Leighton Ford (Billy Graham's borther-in-law!). It was a great time of reflecting and thinking and praying, especially coming as it did, at the end of our first year of church planting and my first year of fatherhood.
On the plane, on the way back, I was flying standby to get an earlier flight, so I had to take a middle seat. "Ugh," thought I, "but if it will get me home 4 hours earlier..."
So, I get on the plane and as I'm walking down the aisle, I'm checking the numbers to see if I can look ahead and determine what manner of humanity I'll be sandwiched between.
As I approach my row, I see...
An Old Guy. Very cool. I could instantly tell (it's all in the face, friends...) that this wasn't one of those crusty-mean-everyone's-a-bastard old guys, but rather one of those very cool, talks-a-alot-but-has-cool-stories-to-tell old guys.
Now, I tend to be an airplane introvert. I get on the plane, perhaps nod a friendly hello to whomever I happen to be sitting by, but generally that's it unless they initiate. I'm a complete responder, and yes, I am filled with guilt about the long line of people that will await me at the judgment, waving to me from perdition ("Hey! Down here!!! Remember me? 24A??? We had three hours together over the midwest! You couldn't have told me about this???"). I am generally filled with airplane guilt...
Anyway, today would be different. I could just tell.
His name was Wilford Muncrief. He was 83 years old and had a great smile that he was very generous with. He'd been married to his wife, Coleen for 60 years this last January, ever since he'd arrived back in Arkansas after a stint in the army during World War II. He'd been a cook at Fort Knox for the duration of the War, and when they let him go he went home, started dating this home town girl he'd known most of his life, and a few months later they were married. He was 23 and she was 18.
An uncle of his lived here in Oregon and talked him into coming out west for work. So, one month (and a day) after they were married, they were on a train to Oregon. The trip cross country took four to five days and was a lot of fun for them... Will remembered that at that time (1945), the War was still on and soldiers had priority in transit. There were a lot of GI's travelling from here to there, sleeping at nght in the aisles of the train.
They settled in Independence, Oregon, just outside of Salem, where they eventually bought a house on four acres. He worked in the lumber industry. They had three kids, but the first, a daughter named Patricia Ann died before they were able to take her home from the Hospital. Her lungs weren't quite right and she just couldn't breathe. Will says they were sad when she died, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. He knows they would been a lot sadder if they'd been able to take her home and then she had died.
But they had two boys, and now have 3 grandkids they love a lot.
As I said, Will and Coleen have been married 60 years. He cracked me up by saying, "We've been married 60 years! We've had our ups, we've had our downs, but we made it!" I had to smile because this was the exact phrase Amy and I would say over and over again on our honeymoon- We'd look at each other gravely and say, "Well, it's been 3 days. We've had our ups, we've had our downs, but we've made it this far!" We said that at least once a day for the entire 10 days of our honeymoon...
Anyway, Will recently put his Coleen in a home. She has Alzheimers disease. He said, tearing up a little, that he took care of her as long as he could, and when he just couldn't do it anymore... I could tell he loved her greatly.
Will was saved in a small Missionary Baptist Church in Arkansas when he was young, but he said he never really did much with it. They attended a small church in Salem, but I got the impression it was more of a social thing for him for many years. He told me that it was at a Billy Graham Crusade here in Portland in the early 90s that he "went forward" and rededicated his life to God. Interestingly enough, a couple of years ago he quit the church in Salem. Apparently, they were moving away from the hymn books! Projecting the words with an overhead machine up on the walls, of all things... That was too much for Will. He found a small church in Keizer, they went and visited with the pastor, attended the service a couple of ties and then transferred their membership.
I smiled when he told me that story. I never told him (he didn't ask!) that I was the pastor of a church that met in a pub, that's pretty addicted to the whole project-the-words thing... I think our concept of church may have blown some circuits for him, and I was very happy to leave those particular circuits whole and unblown.
At one point, he looked at me and said "I'm 83... and no regrets! The Lord has given me a great, long life."
I said, "I hope I live that long!"
He said, with a big grin and a nod, "I hope you do."
Postscript...
Another favorite moment on this plane ride: There was a man on my other side that I'd been pretty much ignoring throughout the plane ride... at a certain point, he pulled out a bible and a daily reading plan and had at it. I almost cheered! Yes! No airplane guilt on this trip...
On the plane, on the way back, I was flying standby to get an earlier flight, so I had to take a middle seat. "Ugh," thought I, "but if it will get me home 4 hours earlier..."
So, I get on the plane and as I'm walking down the aisle, I'm checking the numbers to see if I can look ahead and determine what manner of humanity I'll be sandwiched between.
As I approach my row, I see...
An Old Guy. Very cool. I could instantly tell (it's all in the face, friends...) that this wasn't one of those crusty-mean-everyone's-a-bastard old guys, but rather one of those very cool, talks-a-alot-but-has-cool-stories-to-tell old guys.
Now, I tend to be an airplane introvert. I get on the plane, perhaps nod a friendly hello to whomever I happen to be sitting by, but generally that's it unless they initiate. I'm a complete responder, and yes, I am filled with guilt about the long line of people that will await me at the judgment, waving to me from perdition ("Hey! Down here!!! Remember me? 24A??? We had three hours together over the midwest! You couldn't have told me about this???"). I am generally filled with airplane guilt...
Anyway, today would be different. I could just tell.
His name was Wilford Muncrief. He was 83 years old and had a great smile that he was very generous with. He'd been married to his wife, Coleen for 60 years this last January, ever since he'd arrived back in Arkansas after a stint in the army during World War II. He'd been a cook at Fort Knox for the duration of the War, and when they let him go he went home, started dating this home town girl he'd known most of his life, and a few months later they were married. He was 23 and she was 18.
An uncle of his lived here in Oregon and talked him into coming out west for work. So, one month (and a day) after they were married, they were on a train to Oregon. The trip cross country took four to five days and was a lot of fun for them... Will remembered that at that time (1945), the War was still on and soldiers had priority in transit. There were a lot of GI's travelling from here to there, sleeping at nght in the aisles of the train.
They settled in Independence, Oregon, just outside of Salem, where they eventually bought a house on four acres. He worked in the lumber industry. They had three kids, but the first, a daughter named Patricia Ann died before they were able to take her home from the Hospital. Her lungs weren't quite right and she just couldn't breathe. Will says they were sad when she died, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. He knows they would been a lot sadder if they'd been able to take her home and then she had died.
But they had two boys, and now have 3 grandkids they love a lot.
As I said, Will and Coleen have been married 60 years. He cracked me up by saying, "We've been married 60 years! We've had our ups, we've had our downs, but we made it!" I had to smile because this was the exact phrase Amy and I would say over and over again on our honeymoon- We'd look at each other gravely and say, "Well, it's been 3 days. We've had our ups, we've had our downs, but we've made it this far!" We said that at least once a day for the entire 10 days of our honeymoon...
Anyway, Will recently put his Coleen in a home. She has Alzheimers disease. He said, tearing up a little, that he took care of her as long as he could, and when he just couldn't do it anymore... I could tell he loved her greatly.
Will was saved in a small Missionary Baptist Church in Arkansas when he was young, but he said he never really did much with it. They attended a small church in Salem, but I got the impression it was more of a social thing for him for many years. He told me that it was at a Billy Graham Crusade here in Portland in the early 90s that he "went forward" and rededicated his life to God. Interestingly enough, a couple of years ago he quit the church in Salem. Apparently, they were moving away from the hymn books! Projecting the words with an overhead machine up on the walls, of all things... That was too much for Will. He found a small church in Keizer, they went and visited with the pastor, attended the service a couple of ties and then transferred their membership.
I smiled when he told me that story. I never told him (he didn't ask!) that I was the pastor of a church that met in a pub, that's pretty addicted to the whole project-the-words thing... I think our concept of church may have blown some circuits for him, and I was very happy to leave those particular circuits whole and unblown.
At one point, he looked at me and said "I'm 83... and no regrets! The Lord has given me a great, long life."
I said, "I hope I live that long!"
He said, with a big grin and a nod, "I hope you do."
Postscript...
Another favorite moment on this plane ride: There was a man on my other side that I'd been pretty much ignoring throughout the plane ride... at a certain point, he pulled out a bible and a daily reading plan and had at it. I almost cheered! Yes! No airplane guilt on this trip...
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