I knew Buck Lumber pretty well. I had done consulting work for Eddie Buck back in 1994. We had stayed in touch over the years and remained not only business associates, but friends. More recently I had come into Buck Lumber and done more consulting work. Over the years, Eddie or Mr. Buck, as so many people here respectfully call him, and I had developed a longstanding mutual respect and trust for one another.
I love Charleston. This place might just be the most beautiful place I have ever seen: The islands, the ocean, the rivers, the architecture, the sunrises and sunsets, bridges, the wildlife and the marshes. Most of all there are beautiful people here. People come to Charleston to visit, love what they see and many stay. There is a warmth and “friendliness” about so many people in Charleston that it is hard to do them justice in words.
The emotions I remember when I came here were bittersweet. I was excited about the challenges at Buck Lumber. I knew the work would be tough, but also rewarding. The people I had already gotten to know at Buck Lumber were a cut above. It would be great to serve them in a leadership role. It has been all I expected and then some.
The “bitter” emotions came mostly from leaving behind my family. It was also really tough to leave the community behind that has been so good to us. We had truly become a “family” in Atlanta and that is something to cherish. I wasn’t sure of this when I left for Charleston, but I sensed that our oldest daughter Heath and her newly adopted child, Neema would be “allowed” to return home to Atlanta from Tanzania after being there for a year. Ironically, I was leaving Atlanta and they would be returning soon. That meant that I would miss them. I was blessed to be at the airport in Atlanta when they arrived home in the middle of March. So much of life for me is about being there.
Initially, I moved into one of the Buck’s family owned hotels where I would live for 2 months until I found a rental home in Mount Pleasant. The people at that hotel were great to me and I made some good friends there. It was still very different from living with your family. My neighbors in Mount Pleasant are great too, but they aren’t the same as family.
In a few weeks, I leave Charleston to return to Atlanta. I have accepted a job in Atlanta and given extended notice here at Buck Lumber. I am very excited about the new opportunity there. I believe it will be a wonderful business opportunity and challenge for me. It has been very difficult saying goodbye to the people at Buck Lumber. We have travelled far in a short time frame. There are many challenges ahead. I am not sure who has given who more – me in my efforts to serve them or them in their efforts to win in this game of business. I believe I have been the biggest winner because they have given me so much.
The Buck Family owns and operates Buck Lumber along with over 45 businesses they open each day. They are some of the sharpest, most intense business people I have ever had the honor of working with. Their character and work ethic are reflected in their people. Their business intensity is outmatched by their strong sense of family, community and fairness. I will miss them more than I can describe.
I cannot wait to return home to my family. I miss my wife, Elizabeth probably more than I have ever missed anyone in my whole life. She is such a great person to travel through life with.
I recently had a medical scare where the doctors “thought” I was having a heart attack. All is well and my heart is fine. In those moments when time stood still, I so clearly remember many of the things I wanted to see in the future involving my children and grandchild – I remember mostly that I wanted to experience those precious times by Elizabeth’s side.
During this past year I essentially “missed” our youngest daughter Mary Sims’ Junior year in high school. While I can’t have that back, I am so excited that I will be there for her Senior year. I missed a year of having Heath and Neema live with us. Fortunately, they have moved close by our Atlanta home and so I will get treasured time with them other than some weekends. Most of all I missed being there with my family for the simple moments in life that so many of us take for granted. I will take so much of our time together in the future with gratitude. When our son, Will returns home from Lander University in Greenwood, I can “be there” with him. Please don’t take these times for granted in your lives.
For those of you who read my blog, you may be wondering where I am headed today. Usually, I open with a scripture or a story and what I write is designed to share my (limited) perspective surrounding the message. Today’s message is different. I have lived seemingly alone for nearly 17 months. I have been fortunate to see my family on many weekends and when they came and stayed with me. I know many people who are much more separated from their loved ones. They may only have the opportunity to see their family or loved ones once a year or even less. Some people are totally separated from their families. I know that separation can rip through your heart and soul like a sharp knife. It has mine.
I found amazing peace this past year in different ways. I found a great community here in Charleston that could never replace my family, but these good people gave me way more than I expected. I found real peace in the Lord through faith, prayers and his amazing love and presence. I visited a prison on several occasions and saw faith through the inmates’ eyes. God has been there with me in so many ways I cannot adequately describe His presence or comfort. Over the next few blogs, I am going to share some insight into how He has “been there.”
I developed habits reading scripture, praying, reaching out to others for encouragement, blogging about God and serving others that rewarded me well. I sought out old friends through Facebook and phone calls and made long needed peace with others that I needed to ask for forgiveness. This blog and this effort to share are not meant to be about me. They are hopefully about Him and to serve others. I have seen this recession lead to so many of us to lose our possessions. Far worse than that, I’ve seen so many lose hope. If we turn to God, love Him and love one another, our hope will eventually be restored by the One who created the universe.
A wise friend shared with me in the Bible that “walking by faith not by sight,” means walking forward when we can’t see what is ahead of us. That is so hard when we learn to believe that we are in control of our lives and destiny. When you are laying on a hospital bed hearing that you may have either had a heart attack or may be in the midst of one, you know you are not in control. (It was not a heart attack for me, but it has been and will be for many.) A friend of mine is comforting his wife who is facing incurable cancer and he knows he is not in control. He often tells me that she is comforting him more than he is her.
I have seen my faith grow in those times when I have seen my possessions diminish. I admit I thought the opposite would happen. It would logically seem that as the things I thought I had earned and that were rightfully mine started going away, it would be easy to blame God, blame the circumstances or blame others. I admit that I would love to have my “financial net worth” back or even more. More importantly, I am so thankful for discovering that the most valuable parts of my life in this world are my faith, family and community. As God says, “these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” God Bless You. Be there!
