$20 in my Mailbox

A new school year is here for  those who are attending classes at colleges, universities, community colleges, and technical schools.   I find myself thinking of my days in college today.  I was the first one in my family to graduate from college.  My Dad had attended a semester or two of college before marital responsibilities seemed more important that an education.  My Mother did not attend college and finished her high school education through a GED.    While my Mother did not go far in formal education, she instilled in me the importance of education.

Just days before I was to head to college for my freshman year,   we got in the mail the bill for college tuition and all fees.      When Mom saw the bill, she was shocked as she faced the reality that the college costs were far more than what we expected.    What Mom thought was the cost for the entire school year was actually the cost for only a semester (one half of the year).  Since college was a new experience for everyone in our household, we did not even know what a semester was.    I remember as we sat having dinner that night my Mom crying over the thought that I would not have the money to go to college.      I discovered through my employer at my summer job,  Burlington Industries, that they had a loan program for college students.  When I explained the financial plight my family and I were in, my boss helped  me to apply for a college loan of $500.   Even though the deadline for loan applications had passed, Burlington Industries accepted my loan application and gave me a loan of $500 so I could begin college.  

Another person who helped me in my college days was my Grandmother, Blonda Perry.   Every once in a while I would go to my college mailbox  to discover a letter from Grandma Perry.   (We wrote more letters and talked less on the phone in those days.)     Accompanying a handwritten letter on notebook paper,  Grandma would often include a $20 dollar bill.     While $20 might not seem to be a lot of money today,  that was about what  my Grandmother was earning for one days work making draperies at her job off of Maple Ave. in Burlington in those days.  

I share these two glimpses of people that helped me in my college days as a reminder of something we all need to remember:   all of us have benefitted from  the gifts, sacrifices, and efforts of others.    None of us are a “self made man” or “self made woman”.    There are people along the way in our family, network, job, vocation, and neighborhood who have helped us move forward with the  accomplishments we know.     Thank them, give thanks to God for them, and pay it forward.  Have a joy-filled week.-   Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    O God,  I give you thanks for the people along my journey in my life who not only believed in you, but who have believed in me and invested in me.   Help me to go and do likewise;  through Christ our Lord.  Amen.