He never knew the easy life. Indulgence and prosperity were only words… words that would never describe his earthly journey, yet he pressed on. My grandfather was born in a small mountain town in 1923. His father died of pneumonia when he was three, and he lost his mother to illness a few years later. Orphaned at the age of seven, he pressed on.
He went to live with his older brother and his wife. And while he had a home in a familiar place with family, times were difficult. He was also a child growing up during the Great Depression when warmth and food were luxuries. Yet, he pressed on. My grandfather often reminisced, telling stories of young men getting paid a quarter to jump on the trains and toss off coal as they came through town so people could have a little heat in their homes. He detailed the excitement of getting a filling meal of possum or carp.
After only completing the sixth grade, he had to leave school to help feed the family. His first job was breaking beans for seventy-five cents a day. Then, as a teen, he worked, cutting timber and other various jobs to help feed the family, he joined the army, serving during World War II. His time overseas was mostly spent in engineering, building airstrips and bridges, but nonetheless, it was dark and grim. He described the image of bullet-pierced helmets scattering the beach when he arrived in Normandy. But he pressed on, and his time in service took him all the way to the Battle of the Bulge.
After returning home to his small mountain town, he married, worked long hours, and obtained a small house. There, he lived on a fixed budget without central heat and air conditioning or a washer or dryer until he passed at the age of 88.
He never complained. Instead, he pressed on.
***
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes from prison, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (KJV).
My grandfather is a prime example of these words. Whatever this life threw at him, he chose to press on. He sacrificed his education and his childhood to provide for his family. He sacrificed his time, risking his life in war for our freedom. He chose to press on, and he chose to be content in doing it. As a child, I spent countless hours with him while my parents worked. We played games and went to the grocery store and the laundromat. I watched him tend to his tomato garden and make birdhouses out of hollow gourds. But, the thing I remember most is how he found happiness wherever he was and in whatever he had.
Let us be filled with the joy and contentment that only comes from the Father… the joy that keeps us pressing on despite our circumstances and the contentment that Paul speaks of in his letter.
