Welcome to My Blurb

Monday, July 9, 2012

A Short Story About Stewardship

Jon and Don were twins.  They had grown up somewhat privileged, but their father also knew a thing or two about teaching children the value of hard work and a dollar earned.  Things he had learned from his own father.  For Jon, the lessons were enriching, although at times difficult.  But, Jon tried to get as much as he could out of everything his father taught him all through high school and college.  Don, however, felt that since his father had so much, he should not have to work as hard as other boys and he resented his father's attempts to teach him hard work and responsibility.  He chafed at his father's lessons and did the very least he could to get by without falling out of his father's good graces.


When the time came, the father agreed to pay for half of the boys' college educations, since he was of some means, and he required the boys to pay up front their halves directly to himself.  Jon graduated from a two year school with an associates degree because he could see that he could get a better paying job and would be able to work slowly through the next two years of school toward a four year degree and incur no personal debt to do so.  It took him an additional four years of school, but he completed a bachelor's program and was able to receive a very good job from the company he had inturned for during his school years.  Don, however, feeling that the half was much more than he should have to pay decided to forgo school altogether.  He started a small service business and was able to set himself up with a decent living, as long as he took a few shortcuts here and there in his business dealings.



When the time came for the boys to marry, the father agreed to pay for half of each wedding and honeymoon expenses -- again providing the boys paid him up front the amount they intended to spend themselves.  Jon and his betrothed decided to forgo a huge wedding and opted instead for a small civil ceremony.  Then they jetted off to a tropical paradise where they relaxed and enjoyed the sand and surf for a week.  For the second week, they had already planned to fly the entire family to where they were so they could all celebrate together.  Don, however, chose a bride who had her mind on other things.  They were only able to scratch together enough for a large party to include their friends and family and a short weekend stay in a nice beach resort.


When the time came for the boys to buy homes, the father agreed to allow the boys to choose one of his many real estate investments in which to live, provided they paid a reduced mortgage fee to him and kept up with all of the utility and repair expenses on the homes.  The father placed the management of the properties in the hands of his associate, because he didn't want anything to come between himself and his boys, so he was unaware of anything that the boys did in the homes, or how much they paid or how often.  Jon chose a somewhat modest home that they could raise a family in and be comfortable in for the rest of their lives.  After they moved in, Jon paid his mortgage fee to his father and added a ten percent bonus as a thank you to his dad for all the things he had done for Jon and his wife.  Don, however, picked the largest house he could possibly afford to maintain.  He begrudged his father every mortgage payment he made, and after several years, he decided that there was no need to pay the fee since he knew the father already owned the house and there was no way of losing it.  He began taking money out of the account instead of paying into it.  He also knew that his father's associate would not tell the father about the missing payments.  Don still had to pay utilities, which he also hated, and occasionally, the utility companies would send collectors to shut off their services until Don got caught up.  This went on for a number of years.  And, since Don had been cutting so many corners in his business, his client base fell dramatically.


Eventually, the father had passed his prime, and became ill.  The boys each reacted in their own way.  Jon was at his father's side when he could be, making sure he was comfortable and taking care of anything that the father hadn't thought of, which wasn't much.  Jon and his wife spent any spare time they could repairing things they had let go on the house, hoping that in the event of an estate sale, the house would bring the best price possible to the father's estate.  Jon had dealt very well in his business and was not afraid of losing the house.  He knew that he would be well able to provide another home for his family.  Don, however, spent his days in terror of losing his home.  He and his wife spent a number of weeks finding a cheap place to live and proceeded to strip the father's house of as much as they could to sell so they would be able to live in their cheap rental for as long as possible.  The house they had once called home was practically gutted by the time they finished.


Finally, the time came for the father to be laid to rest.  He had already arranged and paid for his own burial, so the boys wouldn't be burdened by any of it.  The time came for the reading of the will, and the boys gathered with the attorney to discover anything that the father might have for them.  To their great surprise, the father had thought of every possible detail; things they would not have thought about.  The attorney came to the place in the will that dealt with the houses that the boys had called home for so many years.  The father had seen that his associate set up a bank account in each of the boys' names, and every mortgage payment they had made was actually going into the interest bearing accounts.  The father had made sure that it would be more than enough to settle any inheritance taxes the boys would owe.  He had made arrangements for the houses to be transferred into the boys' names after his passing, and all the adjoining land in each home.  To his delight, Jon realized that while he thought he was taking excellent care of his father's house, he was really fixing up his own house, and all the money he had paid into the mortgage account would be much more than he needed to settle estate taxes and fees.  Don realized, to his horror, that while he had thought he was only taking what his father rightfully owed to him, he had really been destroying his own dream house and draining his own bank account of funds. 


The moral here is clear.  We live in our Father's World, but it is our home, and what we do with it is what will be done.  Our stewardship is something we do with respect for God, but we will ultimately live with the consequences of our own actions.