I
wrote this down shortly after my dad passed away:
One characteristic that I think truly defined my dad was
integrity. I found his authentic
and consistent honesty remarkable, and whenever I shared with others about my
dad, I usually mentioned it. I
think most people found it refreshing, while at least a few who had a mind to
cheat on their taxes found it shocking and convicting. (My dad was a CPA) And, I know I was certainly
convicted over the years.
One time in high school – I was probably 15 or 16 years
old. I was falling behind on some
homework, slacking off really, and I needed to get caught up. I borrowed someone else’s homework, one
of my friends, and was sitting in
my room copying answers page after page.
I had the door closed, and I was making good time. My dad came in to my room, and I
must’ve flinched something serious and he knew right away something wasn’t
right. I tried to tell my dad it
wasn’t a big deal, and he told me the story that my brothers and sisters and I
have heard at least 20 times each.
We call it the “nail story” and it’s blessed our lives, so
I’m gonna pass it on to you.
When my dad was 8 or 9 years old, a house was being built
down the road from where he lived.
One day –could’ve been a Sunday, might’ve been after hours - no one was
around and he wandered over to the work site. Looking around, he noticed there were tons of nails all over
the place, in the dirt, on the ground.
He spent some good time gathering all the nails he could find and filled
up a whole coffee can. “Score” he
thought as he walked home with his treasure.
But my grandfather had a different take. “Is that your house they are building
over there?” he asked him. “no
sir.” Is that your construction
crew working on that house?” “no
sir” “Is that your land, was that
your dirt that you found those nails in? Was that your property?” “no sir”. Then,
those aren’t your nails. You
didn’t pay for them. What you did
is called stealing, and stealing is wrong.” The next day, my grandpa walked my dad down to
the site where he apologized for stealing and handed the foreman that full
coffee can of nails.
That was old school!
Our dad learned that just because you find something
doesn’t mean it’s yours, and just
because you can get something for free doesn’t mean you should. He consistently taught us that just
because you can do something the easy way, doesn’t mean it’s the right
way. Truthfulness, honesty, integrity matter. And they are good.
Jesus said, “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness,” and by God’s grace, my dad really did.
