The Year of the Steward

The word, steward, is not commonly used today to describe a Christian and yet, I have come to regard it as a high and noble calling of my faith.  The English have positions in their governmental structure called Lord Stewards who are held in high rank and honor.  JR Tolkeinen used Ruling Stewards in the land until the Sovereign King returned in his books.  And I believe that the status of a Steward of  the Mighty King has rarely been given its true regard.

My life as a Steward took on meaning in 1993 when I surveyed the home and land left behind to me at my husband's death.  As a widow I now, for the first time, was totally in charge of caring for property and my own life direction.  I was now responsible for decisions about how I was going to live and take care of the land, home, investments and the business.  This was a difficult challenge because for the first year, I still thought I was in charge of Bob's assets - so I was wondering what he would do.  It came like a lightening bolt that it all now was mine to do with as I desired without having to refer to his opinion.  That  shocking reality  was a cold plunge into financial decisions and responsibilities for which I was totally unprepared.  

My education began with trying to understand what lawyers and accountants were saying.  They were speaking a foreign language and asking me to make decisions about which I had no wisdom.  All at once I was responsible for being a good steward over all that I now owned and while it was exhilerating ...it was mostly frightening.   Because it came to me as a surprise gift - handed to me through my husband's death, it took some time to make sense out of the freedom I now had to use this gift any way I desired.

That is when I surveyed all that I had and wondered how I could  now bless my world with what I had been given.  One of the major principles of the Bible is that "we are blessed to be a blessing" and I now had something physical in hand to bless my world.  So, I set about redesigning the yard, gardens and home into a place of blessing for all who came through the door.  In that process ownership became stewardship.  One can only steward what one does not own.  Little by little all was given back to the Lord who was the owner and I as the steward got to live on a beautiful piece of land overlooking Lake Waconia.

This is what I want to share with others....the adventure and amazing life of a Steward of the Most High God.