SPECIAL PEOPLE

In high school, I had the privilege of knowing George Kieffer. George was and is such a good natured person. We often teased him in a good natured way. Dan Rich and I often had fun at George's expense and we enjoyed his reaction to many of our attempts to tease him. Sometimes in class, Dan would sit on one side of George and I would sit on the other side. One of us would reach for one of George's leg in order to squeeze it just above the knee. When George would react to to that squeeze the other of us would squeeze the other leg and we always enjoyed George's loud reaction. Frequently, we would put a tack on the chair before he arrived for class knowing full-well that when George "got the point," he would yell out. We had such a good time when he did "get the point." Two days a week, we had choir first hour. George lived across the street from school and he was always late to choir. We found out later that he had three sisters and only one bathroom. We would see him running across campus and it always provided a laugh for the entire choir. The great thing about George was that he was so good natured and I realized that if there was anything wrong with our relationship, it had to be my fault. In our senior yearbook, he wrote the following: "You've been one of my best friends in spite of the calouses on my knees." At our last reunion, George, Dan and I enjoyed talking about those early days.

In college, I met another fellow who had the same makeup as George. His name is Wayne Nelson. I have never seen Wayne out of sorts about anything. He just operates on an even keel. One time, we were in Kansas City and on our way to William Jewell College to see our friend Gordon Kinsgley and play some tennis ball. On the express way, I pointed out that there was a highway patrol officer ahead of us. Wayne's response: "What's the speed temperature?" Whenever one of our friends or I would be mad about something, Wayne was always the same. I have played a lot of basketball and softball with Wayne and whether he won or lost, he was always the same. If he made an error or missed a shot in basketball, his respone was always "My aching back!!" Last summer, he and a few of our freinds met at our house and we played "Horse." He and I were the last two standing and we must have hit 10 shots in a row before he finally missed and I won the game. His response was "My aching back."

It is interesting that both George and Wayne became ministers of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. Both continue to reflect the love of Christ in their devotion and disposition. They enjoy a good time as would Jesus. Not only would I like to be more like Jesus, I would like to be more like George and Wayne. They truly represent our Lord in a special way.