Marcus Redding's Future?

So Mr. Johnson was telling Marcus and Lauren that he was showing them kindness to honor Marcus’s grandfather. Just like David and Mephibosheth. That was how he started their dinner table conversation on this, the first night they would spend in their new home. But Mr. Johnson had more to say.

“Three months ago Carl said he was leaving. He’s worked for me longer than you two have been alive. Wasn’t sure what I’d do without him. He’s like my right arm. He runs this place. He’s as much a part of this ranch as the trees and the trails and this house. See, I’m an old man. I never married. I don’t have kids. My nieces and nephews are not interested in this place. They live in Austin and they have bumper stickers on their hybrid cars that say ‘Keep Austin Weird.’” All three of them laughed. “So Carl leaving forced me to think about the future. I didn’t want to just sell this place to whoever. I wanted to pass this place on to someone. To a family. So I started to pray about it. Wasn’t sure really what to do, I just prayed and prayed for wisdom. James 1:5 you know.”

Then he reached into his back pocket and produced a piece of paper. It had lines where it had been folded. It was wrinkled and worn. But from the way he handled it, it seemed to be important. He put it down on the table and smoothed it out and looked at it carefully. Then he looked up and out the window for a while. He ran his hand through his wavy, silver hair. He gestured for Marcus and Lauren to look at the paper. They scooted their chairs over to his side of the table so they could read it.

At the top Mr. Johnson had written, “Honest and hard working Christian couple. Strong work ethic. Organized. Self-starters. Eye for detail.” Under that were two lists. Written in pencil. Each list had five items.

“He has to: be self-disciplined, work within a budget, handle physical labor, take care of livestock, willing to learn all aspects of ranch management. She has to: be a good organizer, relate and communicate well, be a good administrator, have above average computer skills, be a good housekeeper and cook.”

“I was hoping for a couple like this. So Marcus when I heard about your name, well I already knew a lot about you. And Lauren, I know Mr. Condlefur up at TJC so I called him to find out about you. Then it turns out my niece went to school with your mother Ruth. And she couldn’t say enough good things about her.”

He hesitated and looked at Marcus, “This might be a little much right now, you might not think of it this way, and I’m not putting pressure on you with this, but I just wanted you to know what was on my mind. If this works out. If y’all like it here…I’d like to honor the memory of Sam Redding by doing something for his family. This place can be yours someday.”

Marcus and Lauren were stunned. Was this really happening? Were they really in their little apartment a few weeks ago? Had Marcus hit dead end after dead end looking for work? Was this man really offering them steady work for Marcus, part-time work for Lauren so she could stay at home with the baby, and what seemed like a pretty secure future?

Marcus spoke up, “Mr. Johnson, thank you for all this. Thank you. It’s a lot to think about right now, especially with the baby coming and all. Let Lauren and I talk about it and pray about it and we’ll talk with you again. We appreciate it very much.”

“I understand.” He stood up and shook Marcus’s hand and put his arm around Lauren and gave her a side hug. “We’ll talk about it more later. See you at 6 in the morning at my house Marcus.”

More about Marcus Redding’s journey of faith next week.