Before informing our board of trustees on March 2 of my decision to retire as editor of The Baptist Courier at the end of the year, I talked about it over lunch recently with board chairman Randy Harling.
KirklandHis first question to me was, “Are you sure?” I said I was, and today I feel the same way.
Frankly, I’m excited about it. My anticipation of the future is filled with expectations of continued service to my Lord as my faith journey — the one that I know is going to lead me home — continues.
It isn’t a journey that I’ve taken alone, though. My traveling companion is my wife Linda, and God has accompanied each of us every step of the way.
Linda and I have known each other since the days of our youth. My dad was her pastor. Her parents were among the stalwarts in our church. In our homes and in church, we were taught from the Bible and by the example of our parents to be followers of Jesus.
At 15, a key component of the life I wanted was settled, at least for me: I was in love with Linda and prayed that she would love me.
In our teens, the two of us joined several others in our church in making this promise: We would seek God’s guidance in our choice of careers. We made that pledge sincerely and God took it seriously.
Even before my decision to retire, I thought often of that commitment. And now, it looms even larger in my mind and spirit as I reflect on what God has done in the lives of Linda and me.
Linda’s mentor at Buford High School in Lancaster County was English teacher Eloise Mungo from Pageland. Her husband was a fire-balling strikeout artist for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants from 1931 to 1945. Both of us felt Mrs. Mungo’s influence; Linda and I graduated from college with sights set on teaching careers.
Teaching was, and is, God’s plan for Linda’s life. It was not for mine, however. I look back in amazement mixed with gratitude at how God’s hand moved me gently into the path that was right for me.
In the 1960s, while writing sports for my hometown newspaper, The Lancaster News, I wrote a letter to John Roberts, then editor of the Courier, and told him of my interest in Christian journalism. He visited me in Lancaster and kept me in mind as time passed. I wrote two articles for the Courier at his request. When a position in communications opened at Furman University, he recommended me for the job. At Furman, I met Cordell Maddox, who would become vice president and then president at Anderson College. He invited me to join his staff.
While at Anderson, I felt a strong urge to attend seminary. I called my friend John Roberts to tell him what I was thinking. He invited me to Greenville for a visit, and he offered me a place on the editorial staff of the Courier. I would put a seminary education — which later I received at Erskine — on hold in the firm conviction that my God-chosen path went straight to the Courier.
We’ve always been aware of, and given thanks for, the people God has placed on our paths to help use fulfill His purposes in our lives.
Linda is completing her 41st year in teaching, the last 37 of them at Greenville High School and now Riverside High, where she is Teacher of the Year. My denominational service also has extended to 41 years. At retirement, I’ll be 69 years old. My years at the Courier will total 38.
Most church-going young people commit to memory Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.”
Linda and I did more than commit that wisdom-filled Old Testament passage to memory; we took it to heart. And it has made all the difference in our lives. God is eager to lead, and we have tried to follow.
And so, our walk of faith has brought us to this point. Linda wants to teach a while longer, and I want what she wants. For the months remaining before retirement, I intend to be faithful to my duties at the Courier and my responsibilities to South Carolina Baptists. After I leave the Courier, I don’t know all of God’s plans for my life. I don’t need to know until God is ready to reveal them. My simple prayer is this: Lord, continue to use Linda and me for your glory until we are both used up.