A Piece of the Puzzle

Dan Feryance died this past Monday.

While a few people may know who I’m talking about, most probably won’t.

He wasn’t a man who changed the world. But he was a man who changed HIS world.

As I remember it, I met Dan over 10 years ago, when I was told he and his wife were home on furlough, so I scheduled him to do chapel at C.H.A.  I was struck over the few times he did chapel at his genuine love for God’s Word (in multiple languages), and his genuine love for missions.  I also realized quickly that he didn’t just consider his country of ministry to be his mission field, but he considered his current location his mission field.

During the brief two to three years I interacted with Dan, I was also deeply involved in the lives of two C.H.A. high school students, Adam Spencer and Matt Peters.  They were concocting plans to minister in Franklin County with Adam leading praise and worship, and Matt preaching.  Dan took to Matt, and Matt took to Dan.  Dan would ask me how the “preacher boy”  was doing (I don’t think he could remember his name), and he would tell me “tell him to keep preaching.”  Matt and I went to visit Dan at his home so he and Matt could talk.

We have lots of interactions in our lives that impact our personalities, our behaviors, and our view of things:  parents, childhood and adolescent experiences, God’s Word, the Holy Spirit indwelling us, and people who float in and out of our lives.  All of them are pieces of the puzzle that is us.

Dan Feryance became a piece of my puzzle. He became a piece of Matt’s puzzle.  There was a little unfinished part of the teacher I was becoming so long ago that is now filled in by my interactions with Dan.

I used to think I had to be everything to everyone.  But I have learned over 20 years of teaching teens that the best I will ever do is to be something to some. And that is the greater life accomplishment, because it’s possible.

Jesus only called 12 “puzzles” to fill in.  He healed “many” who were sick, but never “all.”  He used His short 3+ years to become something to some.

The part of my heart Dan filled in hurt when I heard he had passed.  To be honest I hadn’t thought of him, or any of these memories I’ve shared, in years.  But this has all reinvigorated my mission to make something of myself.

Something to some.

A piece of their puzzle.