There is a man, he is a Pastor of a church, and he lived at the end of my street. He taught me several lessons in life that stay with me to this day. He had every appearance of being a wealthy minister, and I often wondered how he obtained his wealth. He has his own business installing curtains, and blinds. He was always dressed top notch on sunday morning, and you could set your clock by this man as he traveled to his church. I never heard him preach, I never had him hang curtains for me, but he always would wave as he drove by. He stopped me one day and asked if I could till his garden, I did and when he asked how much it would be, I gave him the price and he added double to that because he said it was worth it to him. Years went by and each time I saw this man, he always would have a smile. One day it snowed about 8 inches, me being the man I am, I tried to just mash down the snow by driving on it. I did not want to take the time to shovel. At the time my life was frustrated with all the things that I thought mattered. I was consumed with thoughts that he would soon teach me just did not matter. I was backing the car down the drive and up the drive to mash the snow. I backed the car into the street, and there it stayed stuck across both lanes. The pastor drove down the street on his way home from work, and here I was blocking his way. I did not even have a shovel to dig the snow away from the car. This man had every right to give me a piece of his mind, and I was humble enough at that point to let him. I felt like, not the smartest man in town. The pastor/ curtain hanger/neighbor, got out of his van, with the same smile he always had for the last 15 years, opened the back pulled out a shovel and started to dig. He dug and dug until the car was free of snow. He pushed and pushed until the car was not only in the drive but back in my garage. He grabbed his shovel jumped in his van and away he went , still with a smile. I went in the house and sat down, and began to go over what had just happened in my mind. This man/ pastor/ neighbor/ curtain hanger/ and now I should add teacher, allowed me to see through his actions, not only did he preach, he praticed it as well. His goal was to get home, despite all obstacles. He was going to get there no matter what it took, and do it with a smile. I wondered if he knows how much he taught me that day just with his actions, and reactions, and that smile. His eye was on the prize and he was not going to turn from it no matter what.

Thank you, Jimmy Vanison, for being Christ like, and taking the time for me with a smile.