I explained my business to him and what I felt I needed; Ray appeared to understand completely. He hit the intercom button on his desktop phone and asked his assistant to please send Ed in. I can remember it like it was yesterday. I am sitting in front of Ray’s desk in this big office overlooking the city. I felt like I was out of place and in way over my head. I had no idea what I was doing, but somehow God led me here. In walks Ed. He was the quintessential accountant, lifted straight from a Rockwell painting. Ed was well into his seventies which put a huge divide between him and me. He stood in the big office facing Ray, holding a notepad in his left hand and a pen, poised and ready for action, in his right. Ray explained the situation as Ed took copious notes all while standing there. Ray finished the explanation and instructed Ed to show up at my office Monday morning. The plan was for him to stay for the next two weeks to see what’s what and get the accounting squared away. I remember this day so vividly because it literally changed my life.

So, Ed showed up that Monday. I cannot tell you exactly how events unfolded, but I will share that Ed continued to show up every day until I sold the business some years later. Ed continued to support me with my personal finances until shortly before he went to Glory in 2010. Ed and I had a very special relationship. I swore for years that he wasn’t even real, that he was an angel sent to me from God. And while Ed was indeed real, with a long and remarkable life, to this day, I know with certainty that he was sent to me from God. What I later came to learn is that Ed had a very successful career in business along with a lot of life experience that he was willing to share, but never in a pushy way. Ed was a very quiet, gentle man with a huge smile on his face all the time. As I look back now, as with so many life experiences, Ed knew what was in front of me with my business aspirations and could anticipate what life may bring to this journey along the way. We would meet every Monday morning for breakfast to talk about the week, which always turned into a conversation about life lessons. Today, I can see how deliberate he was, knowing where I was, and I believe the Holy Spirit was working through Ed to lead me with just what I needed at the time, planting seeds that I have learned to value ever since. I will share just a few.

Ed and I were at a restaurant, and true to my personality, I was excited to share my thoughts and point of view, interrupting the conversation to get it out. Ed put his hand on my leg and said, “Ron, if you don’t let people finish what they are saying, you might miss something really important.” So true. I still have to stop myself as I hear Ed reminding me. Or, when my determination came on strong, and I would tell Ed, “I can do this,” Ed would softly correct me and say, “Ron, you can’t do anything, but God can.”

He would tell me to keep flying, and he would navigate. 😊

And he’d sign off every written communication with me with “Keep Looking Up.” I was young with a young family, not overly religious. I had faith but not a real understanding and was in search of what I believed and why. I was not one to accept religion just because I happened to be born into a family belief or because of a good-sounding argument, but I was seeking truth for myself. Ed helped me understand how God played an important role in my business and formed so much of my thinking and behavior.

Ed devoted the last ten years of his life to writing and teaching Bible lessons. Ed sent me, and I believe maybe another twenty people, these lessons every week. I was full-throttle in business and family and would read one of the lessons every now and then. They were wonderful, but I just did not have time to keep up with them. (That was foolish, looking back). But God always has a plan. What I did not realize was Ed was a scholar with a deep, deep understanding of theology in his studies of the Bible. Oh, if I could go back, I have so many conversations I wish I could have had with him. Anyway, I kept every lesson Ed sent me. In his later years, Ed took his studies and bound them for us. I saved every one, committed that “one day,” when I slowed down, I would read them. I kept them in a file drawer, in order of dates, books, and lessons for that “One Day.”

My business life has treated me well. I accomplished all the things I had dreamed of. I say this not as a boast but as a warning. Everything comes at a price. What I know for certain is earthly success, while it is nice, is not satisfying or lasting.

Relationships are the only thing that matters, and they point us to the ultimate and most worthy relationship with our savior, Jesus Christ. The hardest thing for me was and still is to simply BE STILL and make room for God.

So today, I am still enjoying business but advising others who are now on their journey, sharing any wisdom that I might be able to provide to help make their path easier. In one of my one-on-one virtual meetings, a very accomplished executive asked me about my faith. I was thrilled to share some of my thoughts, but I was compelled, maybe led, to start the conversation by explaining the role Ed had in my life. I told her to wait, and I went off-screen to go get the stack of lessons from Ed. They stand about two feet high. I then sat the stack down by my desk and finished our conversation. For two weeks, this stack—that “One Day”—was screaming at me. So, I grabbed a lesson off the top called “MARRIAGE: A Great Institution.” Ed wrote this in 1998. I picked it up, read the lesson, and sat at my desk in silence, thinking to myself how powerful it was and if only I had read this twenty-five years ago. So, in my quietness, I went through some more of the writings and grabbed the binder I decided to start. “One Day” had arrived.

God works, not in our ways or our timing, but in His. We want to be in charge, in control, and set the path, the future, and the timing, but God has His plan, and it’s far better. I believe all the events of Ed’s long and amazing experiences that led him to me, and my most unlikely path to where life has brought me today, was in His perfect time. Yes, that “One Day” is now because He chose it in His perfect timing. I opened the writings, and as I read, I simply knew that this couldn’t just be for me. My client had to read it, and my friends, and then I knew that you needed this too, and so here we are. Ed’s family graciously consented to me sharing with all of you what I know is meant for all those looking for answers about what’s what about God, in plain talk but also in truth. I hope you get as much out of this life’s work as I have. Our Lord instructs us as He says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10.

He’s still my angel, looking over me. So much of how I operate in life and business is based on the influence and impact Ed had on my life in business, personally and spiritually.