Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Integrity (04/11/24)
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TITLE: My Brother's Example | Previous Challenge Entry
By Em Bonja
04/18/24 -
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One day, a lanky 15-year-old young man was in his front yard doing the weekly care his yard required. He was doing his usual impeccable job-- mowing, weeding, sprucing up the place. When he finished, every detail was complete, including putting everything away. He did this week after week. He never noticed that someone drove by and watched the care he gave his work. He never saw that the observer returned to verify the consistency of his work.
Eventually, the man stopped and met the young lad, Doug. This man turned out to be the owner of several apartment buildings in the area and was in need of help in their maintenance. After a meeting with the young man’s mother, Doug was hired to assist his benefactor. Thus began a relationship of many years. As his buildings needed other types of repairs and upgrading, he trained Doug in the many skills required. A deep trust grew between them as the man understood Doug’s integrity in all aspects of his life.
To fully grasp the beauty of this account, we will take a look backwards at Doug’s beginnings. His father died when Doug was only a year old. Life was very difficult and unpredictable in the following years. When Doug was five years old, one of his older sisters came to know Jesus Christ as her Savior. She found a church near their home to attend and learn about her new-found faith. Three of her younger siblings agreed to come along, the four of them walking the streets to get there. Doug was one of them. They remained in that church (transported by kind church members) for many years, each making a commitment to Christ.
Now Doug had a heavenly Father. Doug has quietly shared about his early relationship with God, but revealed his faith more often by his actions. He said as a very young boy, the family lived in an upstairs apartment. When he knelt in the middle of his bed at night, he could look right out his window and see the large brilliantly-lit cross on the Hollywood Hills. He would pray with a great sense of God in His life. Integrity became embedded deep in his heart.
[The years were tough for a mom with (at that time) five children. Guidance and accountability were not often available. I remember a time when Doug asked me if I would ever write the family’s story. I said I wasn’t sure. He told me he had the title for it when I did. Of course, I was curious and asked what it might be. He said, “We Raised Ourselves.” There is a way this is most fitting. But the deeper truth is that God interceded in our lives with His own guidance and by providing other parent-figures for us.]
The man who found Doug from his car one day became such a figure for Doug. He employed Doug throughout his high school and college years, the only part-time job he had until he graduated from college. But the man gave more than employment. He imparted skills and mentoring, a bit of a touchstone, for a young boy on the cusp of adulthood.
That integrity Doug demonstrated so young has been a hallmark of his life. He is a CPA, managing his own business for many years. His integrity is unblemished as he’s helped family, clients, and many non-profit organizations. The use of his money for missionaries, people in need, and careful stewardship has been unwavering.
He cares deeply for those placed in his life. He’s loyal and discreet. If Doug knows something about a member of the family, it is not automatically known by all. He’s as God-honoring with his speech as he is with financial issues. His honesty is another way his integrity is on display. He communicates the wisdom of his hard-fought life lessons as gently as the breeze of the mountain air. He speaks often through story and anecdote, surprising his listener with the lessons gained so unexpectedly! Though the fourth-born in the family, he is surely a leader and a source of wisdom. Personally speaking, he is on my list of those I admire and try to learn from.
nonfiction
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A delightful true story. Thank you!