Some days he just springs into my mind.
I guess he was my favorite in-law. In assisted living quarters, the entire staff would come by, one by one, to have prayer with Ervin. One soon volunteered to serve as a door-opener to the nursing home area, where he'd visit room after room, just for prayer time.
A journeyman welder, pipe-fitter, boiler-maker, and the senior pipe bender at Texas Pipe in Pasadena, Ervin pre-fabbed the last "new" refinery built, at the end of a long career. His "Pipebender's Bible" is a staple in the union hall. But his life as a Bible-teacher and prayer warrior was his real legacy.
As a pastor, I'm often asked how we can lift up "so and so" and their legacy. It is a wonderful thing to HAVE a legacy to lift up, which isn't all politeness and "froth".
During Ervin's funeral, I paused somehow longer than I intended (this frog suddenly sprang up in my throat) after asking: "And what could we hear him say from across the river today?" From the back of the room came the answer (his hallmark phrase) I had been intending to speak : "Just right!" Then laughter and folks repeated his slogan with a smile. Through the valley of the shadow of death, with a smile and a "just right!"
That's a legacy!
How's life going?
After prayer: "Just right!"
Most times, that's enough said.
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