I Guess it was the Lord's Will

Chuck was foursquare. You could count on his word and now the world has one less foursquare person.

I want to remember him in his white work clothes when he did plastering. He and his dad plastered the Woodland Church forty years ago. He drove an old Ford paneled van as he went to his jobs. Never advertised in the paper. His craftsmanship preceded him and he didn't lack for work. He plastered our ceilings and made friends with our (then) dog Teddy. They became buddies as Chuck listened to Christian radio while working. Chuck asked so timidly if he could keep his portable radio on while he worked.

 I wondered how he could listen to sermons all the time. He loved his Lord.

Chuck was the essence of humility, the essence of the chapter in the Bible called the 'love' chapter, (ICorinthians 13.) He was never proud, never uttered harsh words. He looked for the good in people. His love showed in his concern and patience for people.He shared his faith wherever he went, never too shy to tell a total stranger that he needed Jesus Christ. Once I met Chuck at the old Ahonen's Mill. We had each bought a bundle of slab maple wood and we were loading up. A stranger backed his pickup to load wood.

"Hi, I'm Chuck and I wondered if you would accept this (Bible tract) and read it over in you spare time."

The stranger was at a loss for words. Chuck always had tracts in his pocket, concerned that the next person he met needed Jesus as his savior. I marveled at this because I wouldn't have had the boldness to even say 'hi.' The stranger politely accepted the literature.

But that was Chuck. Taciturn and meek on one hand but he had this remarkable boldness to spread the Good News.

None of our Bible studies at Woodland Church was complete without Chuck's sage advice and opinions. His Bible was worn, indicating his devout Christianity.  Once we were befuddled as to a Bible passage. "Chuck, where is that reference about giving to the Lord's work?"

"Chuck replied without hesitation, without turning a page in his Bible,  "Second Corinthians 9:6, he who soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly."

All of us smiled.  We were delighted at his command of the Scriptures.

Lois and I delighted in having Chuck and Lil for dinner after church during the football season. Although he didn't wear licensed Packer clothing and their car bore no Packer bumper stickers and he didn't talk much about football, a part of him was in the green and gold nation. I never knew Chuck could get so excited! "Touchdown! Hooray for the Packers! Did you see that perfect pass by Brett Favre?"

When they lived in Iron Belt they had us over for dinner occasionally and of course, the Packer game. After a scrumptious dinner we descended the stairs to their completely finished basement. It was a bone-chilling Sunday in December but Chuck made their basement recreation area toasty with a fire in the stove. It was the Packers vs. the Vikings and we were  pumped up for the occasion. It was a pivotal point of the season, a crucial game. Lois and Lil were upstairs and Chuck and I continued to watch the game. Then we took a nap! Right during this  game that had playoff implications! Our full tummies along with the warmth from the wood fire and the comfort of the recliners did us in.

"Are you guys sleeping?" Lil asked as she and Lois returned much later. We had to admit that we couldn't stay awake under such extreme conditions. The Vikings won.

 I was angry, "The Packers had that stupid holding penalty. The replay clearly showed that there was no holding."

Chuck calmly replied with a wistful smile,"I guess it was the Lord's will for the Vikings to win."

Chuck was always concerned to do and accept the Lord's will. We will surely miss him.