Sunday’s blog about the Eric Church Commencement Address at the University of North Carolina contained this promise:

The people who tend to their faith in ordinary seasons do not come undone in the extraordinary ones. They still hurt. They will still sit in hospital waiting rooms asking unanswerable questions at 3 in the morning, but they have a foundation to return to. – Eric Church

Bob Edelstein, who served in the Marines during the Viet Nam era, was my across-the-street neighbor in Monument, CO, from when we moved there in 2006 until Bob and his wife, Theresa, moved to Idaho in late 2018. He was my go-to guy from the first day when he helped me get my natural gas working. Once, he did an emergency install on a new microwave when I had out-of-town guests coming and couldn’t wait for the contract installers. It was a 4-5-hour project over two days. He was also adept at trapping pocket gophers in my yard. Part of his work included professional writing, and he was kind enough to proofread my books. Along the way I took him to several Navigator men’s conferences, and he developed the habit of Daily Time with God.

Out of the clear blue, he got shocking news, which he immediately shared with me:

Hi Bob,  while visiting here in CA, Theresa’s daughter, who is an ER trauma nurse, noticed Theresa’s slurred  speech and whisked her off to the ER.  She was admitted immediately.  After 4 days of testing they found suspect nodules in her lungs plus ALS.  She has been given a great gift – time to get things in order.  But a tough time ahead.  Thank you, brother.

They live in rural Idaho about an hour north of Boise, so when I stupidly asked when they were going back to Idaho from their California vacation, he wrote:

We will not be returning to Idaho (except perhaps for a short vacation visit or two).  She wants to spend her few remaining good months with family.  Plus her care will soon be more than I can handle alone.

We will relocate immediately to the Sacramento area to continue her healthcare here.  UC Davis Teaching Hospital – where we spent last week – is exceptional, and her neurologist and team are outstanding.

Wow. Life turns on a dime, doesn’t it? From a routine family visit to “get your affairs in order.” We were exchanging emails the day the Eric Church blog was scheduled to come out. I told him about the quote above and added:

You’ve been doing that: investing in your faith in your daily time with God. Now it’s time to collect the dividends.

I don’t know where those sentences came from. I’ll chalk it up as a God thing. Bob is a savvy investor, so the concept will resonate with him…and with us, I hope. To paraphrase Eric Church, we must invest in our faith in the ordinary times so that it (and our awareness of Jesus’ presence) will be with us in the extraordinary times. That is, we can collect the dividends on our investment.

The first evidence of Bob’s dividend of faith and resilience is his assessment of their situation: She has been given a great gift – time to get things in order.

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22.31, ESV, emphasis mine)

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11.6, ESV, emphasis mine)