Traveling Light: Tips for Life's Journey

By Ron Corzine

Traveling can be equally enjoyable
and frustrating. Enjoyable, because
you’re embarking on a journey, full of
new adventures, replete with twists and
turns. Frustrating, because the baggage
you carry along the way often seems to
get heavier and heavier.
Life is like that, too.
In Traveling Li

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Fellowship Church
• Release date: Nov 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781947360273

Book preview

Part I

Take a Walk with Me

Dad Left Me Wealthy

I received only seven hundred dollars when Dad died. It could have been more, but my two brothers and four sisters thought it best that we divide it equally.

Since then, I have learned that money may make one rich, but being wealthy is something totally different. My dad left his kids wealthy.

A spiritual legacy is one of the greatest possessions you can leave your kids. I was reminded of this several years ago when I drove into our hometown to take care of some family business. This was years after Mom and Dad had both gone home to be with the Lord. The kind lady who checked me into the motel saw the name on my credit card and asked if I were related to Brother Corzine, known as The Country Preacher. I told her I was his youngest son. She proceeded to tell me the story of how my dad had led her to Christ when she was just a young girl. You see, Dad was a part-time school bus driver. One day she boarded the bus early, and as she sat there all alone, he took out a New Testament and began to talk to her about trusting Christ. She said she would never forget him or the day she prayed to receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.

That story really didn’t surprise me. All my life I’ve heard stories from people about the way my dad impacted their lives. My dad lived a long and fruitful life. His good and godly example helped shape me into the man I am today. My sixty-two years of life and more than forty-four years of ministry have been influenced by his legacy. The way I understand it, he is still blessing people’s lives today through others (including me) who were influenced by him. That’s the way it is supposed to be.

When God told the nation of Israel to pass His teachings from one generation to the next, He established the definition of legacy. In Deuteronomy 6 God tells the parents to teach their children the words of God diligently to talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. God uses His people to build His Kingdom, and He wants each succeeding generation to know what He did and how they can be included in His Plan.

I learned faithfulness from my dad. I learned how to be a gentleman. My dad took divided churches and brought them together. He was a consensus builder. He was kind and sensitive, and he taught me how to deal with people kindly. He encouraged me to memorize Scripture and taught me how to outline a sermon. He was a man of integrity and character, and I wanted to be like him.

He always taught me to stand for what’s right even if no one else does. My dad showed me I could, without compromise, stand against anything that was wrong but still be kind in my opposition. I have not always succeeded in that, but I have tried. I always knew God led my father and mother in the decisions they made. My parents built into me the confidence to always trust the Lord for wisdom, guidance, and provision.

Only God knows the number of people who have been touched as a result of the faithfulness of my dad. I know I am wealthy today because of him. Who knows, maybe one day my son and daughters and their children will be wealthy, too.

Mom Was Always Working Behind the Scenes

You may be an avid sports fan, or just a casual viewer, but we have all seen it. The camera zooms in after a spectacular play by our sports heroes, and what do they do and say? With one finger in the air they say, Hi, Mom. Not Hi, Dad, not Hi, Sister, but Hi, Mom. What they seem to be saying is, Mom, I would not be here and could not have done it without you. So it was with my mom.

I shared the great impact my dad had on my manhood and ministerial life, but it was Mom, working quietly behind the scenes, who shaped my character. As many moms are, she was always there working, praying, and believing in me.

She raised seven children almost single-handedly. Dad was regularly on the road as a traveling minister. She was a Proverbs 31 woman who was a homemaker as well as one who had to be employed outside the home.

There are so many memories I have of her, but two things stand out in my mind as I write this: Mom picked a lot of cotton as well as working for many years at Sherman Steam Laundry. Both were hot, sweaty jobs. After completing her workweek on Saturday at the laundry, she would take her meager little check and walk to the city square in Sherman, where she made payments on items she had purchased on credit for her children.

She was faithful to do this every week. That diligence in paying her bills on time taught me honesty, faithfulness, and integrity. She would remind me that it was your name and testimony (reputation) that held the highest value in life.

She was a pastor’s wife for more than fifty years, and this was a hard job within itself. I will never forget the night I surrendered to do God’s will to become a preacher. Dad cried when I told him of my decision. Mom cried as well but for a different reason. She was concerned about what my wife, Anne, would be facing as a pastor’s wife. She knew about the loneliness, the hardships, the sometimes scrutiny and rejection of her children, but she accepted it because she knew God’s hand was on my life. Also, she wanted my new bride and me to be happy.

Mom was not an outwardly religious person, but she was a very inwardly spiritual woman. It took me years as a minister to understand the difference. While some women are called beyond the duties of their home to a more visible ministry, others, like my mom, work behind the scenes.

She is with the Lord today, and I imagine that upon her arrival in heaven, she tried to slip in quietly and go unnoticed. Mom, thanks for who you were and all you did for your family. We love you!

She Made a Believer Out of Me

She was a door-to-door Avon lady by day and a Bible teacher by night and on weekends. Her name was Mrs. McGuffee. I will always remember her as a person who gave direction and inspiration to my life.

This story begins when I was a nine-year-old boy attending Sunday school and training union at the First Baptist Church in Howe, Texas. One Sunday evening in class, I was doing what mischievous boys will do: I was throwing spitballs across the room at a friend while Mrs. McGuffee was writing on the blackboard. As I was in the middle of launching one of my bombs, Mrs. McGuffee turned quickly, fixed her eyes on me, and said, Ronnie Corzine, you are going to be a preacher someday. I laughed like Sarah when she was told she would have a child in her old age. Under my breath I said, Over your dead body.

Well, my life continued seemingly on course. I was living fast and furiously as a teenager, doing my own thing and giving no thought to my future. On my eighteenth birthday, I was invited to a citywide crusade. That night as the minister spoke, my heart was greatly touched as I was faced with the reality of my life, how I was living, and what I would do to make a difference in this world. Having forgotten what Mrs. McGuffee said years earlier, I went forward at the end of the service and committed my life to doing God’s will. I later discovered it was God’s will for me to be a preacher of the Gospel. And here I am today.

I think it is ironic that many years later I received a call from Mrs. McGuffee’s family. They said that she had just gone to be with the Lord, but she had requested that I do the funeral service when her time came. Because of her influence on me, I accepted. On that day at the First Baptist Church in Howe, I stood and told the above story to those gathered in her remembrance. Today, I stand here over her dead body as a fulfillment of what she spoke over me many years ago as a small boy. I then proceeded with my eulogy.

When people speak positive things concerning your life that you cannot explain or understand, do not despise them or their words. It could just be the Lord speaking to you through them about your future.

The Little BIG People in Your Life

It is the little big people in your life who make the difference.

I had the privilege of growing up in small town USA. From the time Mom and Dad brought me home from the hospital until Anne and I were married, I lived in the same town and the same house.

Few people have heard of Roy and Gladys Williams, but they made a big difference in my life. They were our next-door neighbors. Roy and Gladys were well known in our little town as people who lived their Christian life daily. People needing help could always count on them. Their two daughters, Nita Sue and Dora Jean, kept me out of a lot of trouble and helped me graduate from school. The Williams family always seemed to believe in me no matter what road I was traveling; and in my youthful days I spent too much time traveling the back roads going nowhere.

They were good country people who helped shape this country boy’s life. It was my Sunday school teacher, Mrs. McGuffee, who predicted that I would be a preacher, but it was Roy and Gladys Williams who paid my first year’s tuition to Bible college. They were not rich people materially, but they were spiritually wealthy. They invested in their church as well as in other people’s lives. They knew their return would be greater than with any stock market investment.

I could tell many stories of their input, but one seems to stand out above all others.

Anne and I graduated from Baptist Bible College in 1973 and I was serving as an associate pastor in our first church in Longview, Texas. In August of that year, I needed a major operation, so I checked into Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler, Texas. The operation was a success, but I was told that I would need to remain in a wheelchair for four months. It would be impossible for Anne to work and care for me and our two children at the same time.

What would we do? Who could we turn to? You guessed it! Roy and Gladys opened their home to us for the next four months and cared for our family while Anne worked and I recovered. They loved us and cared for us like we were their children. We will forever remember and be grateful for the Williams family.

A few years ago, I was called home to officiate at Roy’s funeral. At the graveside I decided to break a traditional mold. As we stood around the open grave to pay our last respects to Roy Williams, I led the people to give a clap and a cheer to one of God’s beloved children.

Maybe today you can think of some of the little big people in your life and give thanks to God for them. If they are still here, you might just write a card or give them a call to thank them.

Forever Is as Far as I’ll Go

So the Beatles missed it by one year. She was just sixteen.

It was 1968 when she walked into my life. Now here we are, more than fifty years later, still dancing and enjoying life together. She gave me three great children, who have given us eight wonderful grandchildren. She did most of the work raising our children to become the delightful and productive individuals they are today. I will never forget the night I told my mother that I was going into the ministry. She began to cry. I thought they were tears of joy and possibly so, but she immediately asked me What about your wife? You see, the ministry has a way of taking its toll on a family, and she knew as a preacher’s wife herself, having raised seven children, how difficult it would be. After her cry Mom encouraged us to follow our hearts and obey God’s call on our