(When I wrote “Frustration” for last week, I wasn’t sure if there would be a second part. However, thanks to the loving insistence of many of my readers, here is “the rest of the story”. If you haven’t read part one, visit my archives and take a look. It will set the stage for this piece.)

In “Frustration”, toward the end, I wrote, “The near-death experience of everyone in my immediate family also contributed to my evolution from Type A to Type B.”

As a young pastor, and in the middle of planting our second church, we had a most memorable summer. It was the summer of 1963. We had a son who was not yet two years old. We had a daughter on the way, although we didn’t know it would be a girl!

Right after the school year ended, summer church camp began. I belonged to a fellowship of ministers. We conducted a cooperative youth camp in northern Minnesota. As one of the newest guys on the block, I was (s)elected athletic director. I actually looked forward to working with the kids in the beautiful outdoor setting.

My plans took a wrong turn when I came down with bronchitis a week or so before we were to leave. I was so determined to go. I remember sticking a jar of Vicks right under my nose and breathing the fumes all the way to camp.

Never got to call “play ball”. Ended up in the hospital with double pneumonia. The doctor told my wife that I might not make it through the night. Well, obviously I did! Either that or I’m a fairly nimble writer for someone who’s been in Heaven for 35 years! (grin)

As I recovered, we made plans for a little vacation. A few weeks later in the summer, we loaded up the ’61 VW Bug with all our camping, fishing, and baby gear. I remember that the diaper pail (no disposables in those days, folks) would only fit behind the passenger seat. Once in awhile the lid would pop off. We got to be pretty good at replacing the lid!

While camping outside of Baltimore, a campfire accident burned our little boy very badly on his face. He breathed in the fumes and gases of burning gasoline. When we finally got him admitted to the hospital, the doctors gave him a very small chance at recovery.

God literally not only saved his life, but healed the horrible burned places on his face with no scars or surgery. You can read that story in the archives at “Little Boy With Cheeks Of Brown.”

A few weeks after our return, my wife began showing signs of fatigue. We attributed the symptoms to her pregnancy. However, one day she began gasping for air. I immediately took her to our doctor. He briefly examined her and told me to get her to the hospital as quickly as possible. He said that there wasn’t time to call an ambulance. He diagnosed her with diabetes. Later he told me that she was within an hour of lapsing into a coma. She came very close to death. We would also have lost our unborn child!

Within three months, the Jerry Meyer family nearly ceased to exist. Our collective demise might not have made much impact on the world around us, but I’ve certainly enjoyed sticking around and watching not only those two children grow and mature, but also a third child a couple of years later.

If you remember, at the end of last week’s piece, I mentioned changing from a Type A to a Type B personality. A lot of you wanted to know how. Well, watching part or all of my family nearly get wiped out, certainly got my attention. I began taking inventory of myself. Not to determine if God was judging me or punishing me in some way, but to see if I was really becoming the kind of man, husband, father, and pastor God wanted me to become.

I attacked pastoring about the same way I’d attacked everything else in my life. I was hard driving and didn’t put up with any nonsense. When someone in our fledgling congregation crossed me, I handled it head on. I had to win. They had to lose! Plain and simple. I WAS THE PASTOR!

On Thanksgiving, 1963, our family moved to Texas to pastor a small church. This all coincided with my inventory process. God used that move and change of circumstances to work a neat transition in my life. I gradually learned a lot about “laid back”. I noticed that I had a lot more patience with everybody with whom I came in contact. Mercy became one of my guiding lights! I began using negotiation and compromise to settle differences. I quickly discovered that I didn’t have nearly as many confrontations within the church family as I’d had before. Hmmmmmmmmm!

Not long after we moved, I came across a book that helped me understand this process. The writer told a story about him and his brother. The two brothers had inherited a large family business. He nearly lost the entire business and his relationship with his brother because, as he described himself, he was a brick! God taught him that his brick needed a thick velvet pad around it. As he learned, his relationship with his brother was restored and the business prospered even more!

A little while later, I discovered the booklet I mentioned last week, “Tyranny Of The Urgent” written by Charles E. Hummel and published by Intervarsity Press.

It’s amazing to me how God uses so many different things to get our attention and help us grow and mature. I’m not totally grown or matured yet, but I’m on my way.

WHAT DID I LEARN
THROUGH THIS TRANSITION?

• I learned that above everything else in my life (except my relationship with the Lord) my family was absolutely my first priority. God would hold me most responsible for the job I did with them. In spite of all my dedication to pastoring, youth pastoring, etc., in the long run, only my family is still with me.
• I learned that constantly banging heads with people gave all of us headaches.
• I learned that as I relaxed and learned to savor even the tiniest parts of my life, God rewarded me with greater insight into successfully building relationships with my family, friends, and those whom the Lord called me to serve.

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