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One of my favorite stories which bears repeating has to do with a man who lived in the small community where I grew up by the name of Roy Wall. Considered to be somewhat of a character because of his opinionated views, crusty wit, and sometimes salty language, he was also a creative inventor, successful farmer, and community leader. Roy had another distinctive feature in that he was an amputee, having lost an arm in an accident when he was a small child, something he chose to use as a source of strength and determination in his life rather than a disability.

One day, so the story goes, while Roy was struggling to harness a cantankerous team of mules a young man came by the farm to call on him. Observing the situation the young man tried to help out with the mules, but was brusquely dismissed in a sea of unrepeatable language. The young man, a newly hired school teacher in the tiny country school where Roy served as school board president, was obviously unfamiliar with Roy’s volatile disposition. Later, though, once the mules settled down and were duly hitched to the wagon Roy apologized to the young man explaining to him that even though his intentions were good he in fact interfered with his ability to deal with the mules. “Young man,” he said, “I may only have one arm, but I can do almost anything with one arm that most men can do with two. Of course, I can’t play a fiddle – but then #@!&*#$ neither can you!”

As you might imagine there are hundreds of stories about Roy Wall. He designed and created an eating utensil, for example, that was sort of a knife and fork combined allowing him to cut his meat and eat it with one hand. That instrument I am told is his grandchildren’s most coveted family heirloom. Another thing he did was teach young kids how to tie their shoes with one hand. How many of us can do that?

Roy Wall may have been an amputee, but he was hardly disabled. In fact, he could do almost anything with one hand that most men can do with two. As I lay in the hospital last week after my recent mishap I thought a lot about Roy. I figure if he can do it, why should I allow my own health issues to limit me in any way. Of course, I can’t play a fiddle either – but then neither can most of you.

Every day is a blessing, we should all know that. But sometimes things happen that make us more keenly aware of how blessed we truly are and how precious life is. Friday was one of those days. We knew it would be because it was the day our newest granddaughter was supposed to arrive, and indeed she did, right on time. At exactly 10:33 a.m. Corrina Carol Wilson entered our world weighing in at seven pounds thirteen ounces, healthy and beautiful. The whole event could not have gone more perfectly for both mother and baby.

What we didn’t expect was that at the same time Corrina was being born Grandpa (that would be me) was being treated in the emergency room of the same hospital having passed out while on an early morning jog falling face down in the street. Fortunately, Tee was not far behind and two other joggers happened to be coming toward us. The joggers aroused neighbors to call 911 while Tee tended to me and our dog Cowgirl protectively stood guard over the situation. All were angels who had they not been there . . . . well, the outcome might have been much worse.

Doctors discovered pulmonary embolisms, blood clots that had developed in the pulmonary arteries of both my lungs reducing the oxygen in my blood to the extent that I passed out, no warning signs, no prior symptoms. Even my regular doctors confessed they could not have predicted such an occurrence. According to them had it not been for my otherwise good health and physical condition plus the rapid response of the angels nearby the whole event might have been much worse. The good news is I’m going to be okay, no long term damage. The bad news is that my face looks like I’ve been in the ring with Mike Tyson, black eye, broken teeth, and stitches in my chin. That, of course, will all heal over time.

Corrina and Grandpa in the same hospital at the same time – both here by the grace of God – what a family story that will be in years to come! It all serves to remind us that every day is a blessing, but sometimes things happen that make us more keenly aware of how blessed we truly are and how precious life really is, and that God is good – all the time. Friday was one of those days.

“You’re very creative,” she blurted out. I was startled by such a remark. No way, I thought. What does she see in me that I’m missing? “The problem is,” she began to explain, “you’ve become a very linear thinker, plus you have devoted almost thirty years of your life to a highly regulated business, following rules. What I am trying to do,” she went on, “is awaken your creativity, for you are a very creative person.”

That conversation between my coach and me is as vivid today as it was over seven years ago when it occurred. Eighteen months earlier I had retired from my previous career and had hired her to help me explore what my next one would be. And it was during that conversation that I received one of the greatest epiphanies I have ever experienced, not so much in discovering my creativity, but for the first time in my life I felt I had been given permission and encouragement to pursue it and use it.

Yes, I am creative as my coach revealed to me, but I am not unique in that. So are you. Does it surprise you to learn that as it did me? The truth is creativity is part of the human DNA. We all have it, it just manifests itself in different ways in each of us. We all have different talents. And it is through our unique talents that we are given the ability to transform chaos as we find it into some kind of meaningful order, which is what creativity is all about.

Consider this: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him,” we are told in Genesis 1:27. If that is true that God the Creator of all created mankind in his own likeness, does that not imply that we too are creators? Was that not his intention? If not, why did he give us naming rights and grant us dominion over all he had created?

My great epiphany that day was the realization that the answer is “yes” to all the above, that creativity is a gift from God. And when we use it as He intended – and use it we should – that is our gift back to Him.

When I was a bond trader there was an old saying that “bulls make money and bears make money, but hogs never do.” In other words, those who kept their positions moving, selling and buying, would consistently be profitable, but the greedy ones who were always holding out for the last dollar would sooner or later get in trouble and lose money. Another interpretation might be that those who consistently do the right things will end up winners while those who try to keep it all for themselves ultimately fail.

Last week’s Wall Street Journal contained a rather refreshing story about how Webster Bank, a regional banking company headquartered in Waterbury, Connecticut, has been aggressively working with its mortgage customers in helping them remain current and stay out of default. For them “Foreclosure Has Become a Dirty Word” the headline read. With job loss and other financial hardships bearing on their lending clients in this difficult economy, Webster is bending over backwards to restructure loans, extend payment periods, grant temporary interest rate relief – anything to help people stay current on their payments and avoid foreclosure. As a result, many of their clients have been able to work through their financial difficulties without losing their homes.

What is even more impressive about Webster Bank, though, is its attitude toward these struggling clients as reflected in this story: “Two years ago, Webster cut the monthly payment on Anne Glenzer’s $60,180 home-equity loan by $123 to $366 after her job as a learning and development specialist was eliminated. Webster recently cut the payment to $206 after Ms. Glenzer and her husband, a schoolteacher, exhausted their savings. Both times Ms. Glenzer worked with Natalie Clark, who joined Webster four years ago as a debt collector. ‘She was sympathetic,’ says Ms. Glenzer. ‘She didn’t make me feel like a failure.’” Speaks volumes about the culture of the bank and the character of Natalie Clark, doesn’t it?

And who’s the big winner in all this? Well, for sure it is the struggling homeowners, but time will most likely prove the bank to be the biggest winner. Why? Because by doing the right thing they will prove the point that bulls make money and bears make money, but hogs never do.

Forty Years with My Best Friend

The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’ for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:23-24

Pretty, petite, funny, fun and adventurous, sometimes a little shy; determined, dedicated and dependable, that’s my best friend; sweet, loving, kind, gentle, soft spoken, and low key . . . except, “when someone messes with my children,” she once said of herself, “then I am the mother lion.” And that she is as I have witnessed many times through the years, my best friend’s gentle soft spoken nature turning into aggression when she would see her children in danger or under attack and in need of defense, protection or rescue. Even today off in the shadows but on high alert she continually keeps watch over her children and grandchildren, like a mother lion watching over her cubs ready to defend, protect, or rescue at the first sign of danger. That’s my best friend.

It was on a blind date arranged by a mutual friend that we first met. Skeptical at first, we both almost declined the invitation having had rather poor experiences in the past with such arrangements. “But oh well,” we each thought, “why not try it one more time.” And when our eyes met for the first time there was an instant connection, like no other either of us had ever experienced. By the end of our second date we were bonded – for life as it turned out. We became inseparable best friends, “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” Together we have raised a family, supported each other through all kinds of trials, laughed a lot, cried a little, suffered through scarce times and rejoiced in prosperous ones, tried things that didn’t work and some that did, shared meals together, traveled, read books and watched movies, worked together and played together – mostly we have a lot of fun together and still do. That’s what best friends do.

She’s still the same mother lion to our children and grandchildren, and the same pretty, petite, fun, funny, sweet, loving, kind, gentle person I met on that blind date, a gift from God. And today marks a special occasion – forty wonderful years with my best friend.