Derek’s story – 8 July 2008
Derek has been involved with farming most of his working life, having been born into a farming family, eventually taking over the farm from his father and then working for a farm supply and maintenance company called Burgess’. Now 76, Derek has lived within 12 miles of Rugby all his life.
“The farm was mixed, we did everything except dairy.” Derek clearly found a vocation in farming and fixing things. “I’ve just made a replacement hasp for a friend’s shed” he tells me.
I asked him about his early years. “Being an only child on a farm, I grew up in adult company. I remember when I was about 6 or 7 my father always wanted to me to do little jobs, and I would rebel against it. I was an ill tempered and un co-operative little sod! And then these two cousins came to stay, and of course they were willing to help. I thought I shouldn’t be behaving as I was. Because of that, I remember praying to Jesus that I would change, AND I DID!”
“I began to realise about the age of 25 that my job was in partnership with God. OK, the big motivator was profit, but this slowly took on less importance and there was an awareness that I was doing it with the gifts and assets God had provided for me. The profit motive was put into perspective.”
“I’ve always been rather political. In the early 1950’s we had rampant socialism. Everything was being nationalised and land was on the agenda. I was fearful of Communism. I began to realise I wasn’t fully committed to God, and I started to read my Bible.”
His political views again come out in his approach to work. “I just say the welfare state is the ruination of people. It doesn’t give young people the motivation to go and get a job.” This rather “hard line” approach is balanced by the way he lives out his life, helping out at a local Soup Kitchen. “I meet young people there who know Jesus.” He adds “I’ve learnt you’ve got to listen to the other person’s point of view.”
I asked Derek what the benefits were of old age. “You get wisdom. You still get plenty of spiritual growth, probably more. You can get out a bit more as well, if you can afford the petrol!”
“My Faith has changed over the years. It only occurred to me the other day that the essence of being a Christian is that you’ve got to have Jesus in your life 100%. That’s the key, even if you don’t know the Bible. You do a bit more thinking when you’re older, you have more time.”
Thank you Lord that we can go on being changed through the whole of our life, if we have you at the centre. Amen | 