In View of Eternity

By Maryann Bouco

This story is more than just a good story; it's a teaching tool with some very valuable lessons for people who are not saved and people who think they are saved and do not have a relationship with God. It is about a young, inexperienced pastor who gets his whole worldview completely turned on its head. The story is told in the first person by the main character, so the reader can clearly see into the heart of this young man as he goes through all his experiences. The end result of his journey is a much deeper understanding and relationship with the Lord. In his transformation, he learns to see his life and his struggles through the lens of the Almighty, Eternal God. And as the reader is drawn into the story, he or she sees what it looks like when biblical precepts are applied to life situations and a personal relationship with the Lord is developed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Release date: Oct 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781666759860

Maryann Bouco

Maryann Bouco is the author of the novel The Last Stand. She has a few more stories in her quiver, but In View of Eternity is particularly near and dear to her heart.

Book preview

Introduction

In View of Eternity is about a young, inexperienced pastor who gets his whole world view completely turned on its head when he is challenged by his own personal desires to find a wife, as well as the sometimes-difficult work of being a pastor. He falls in love in the wrong girl and unexpectedly has the blessing and privilege of working through his struggles with the guidance of a well-seasoned, elderly woman of God. As the woman is dying from cancer, she mentors this young man through his trials into a new and breath-taking reality: one of having a personal relationship with God Almighty Himself. In his transformation, he learns to see his life and his struggles through the lens of the Almighty, Eternal God; instead of the worldly lens he had previously been looking through.

The young man tells and narrates the story himself, so the reader can clearly see into his heart and mind as he goes through his experiences. As the reader is draw into the story, he(she) sees what it looks like when Biblical precepts are applied to life situations and result in a much deeper understanding and relationship with the Lord.

I am a published author with a few more stories in my quiver. But this particular story is very near and dear to my heart. It is a quick, easy read with some very valuable lessons for folks to not only enjoy, but to also provoke learning a new approach to life.

Chapter 1

The End and the Beginning

Looking out through the huge double wide window, it just seemed so surreal. Almost supernatural! The golden sunlit trees on the mountainside blazed with such an incredibly breath-taking radiance. It looked as if the whole mountain range with all its fall foliage from the north end to the south end was on fire from the sun blazing so brightly against it. The brilliance was filling the whole room! It seemed as if the awesome God Himself was making His personal statement about this incredible woman whose lifeless hand I held in my own hand. She had just stopped breathing. That was it ! She was gone from this earth forever. I knew that I would never get to talk with this amazing, Holy Spirit filled woman again, at least not in this life. Never again would her wise, kind words reach into my soul and boost me up; or challenge me. Never again would I experience her uniquely loving gentle disposition. She was gone from this earth forever.

The woman was Mary Ayer. She was the 82-year-old widow of James Ayer who passed away a few years ago. And now it was Mary’s turn to go join her beloved Jim. I numbly got up and called in Mary’s daughter to tell the doctor. While all the commotion was going on in the background, I thought back on when this whole story began in the early spring. I could feel tears trickle down my checks as her daughter dialed the number for the doctor’s office. I was glad Mary’s suffering was over. And I knew she was in a much happier place. But I had such a large empty spot in my heart. And I knew that because of her that my life had been changed forever and I was so grateful for this.

Before I came to know Mary, I was fortunate enough to get a pastoring position at a little country church in Serendipity, PA. I thought this would be the beginning of a lifelong career but I had no idea that this career move would be so powerfully life changing. I thought I had life by the throat. After all, I was still young,—only 32, with a Doctorate in Ministry degree and already starting my first job as a pastor of my own church. I would have preferred to have been married but the right lady did not come into my life yet.

I was the youngest of two kids in my family. My brother, who at the time was a missionary in India, was twenty years older than me. My parents were both career people who were surprised with a late life pregnancy when they were in their late forties. Thus, the long gap in time between myself and my brother. So between my brother being so inaccessible and both my parents having passed not too long ago, I was pretty much alone in this world. I guess the loneliness made me all the more desirous of finding a life mate.

In the meantime, the people of Serendipity Baptist Church just seemed to really love me. I started my position as pastor of this church in April when the fields were just turning to emerald green and the trees were just starting to bud. Life was going to be great. I just knew it!

I remember the first time I drove up to the church. It was still winter, and I was coming to interview with the church board. Mary Ayer was among the board members at the time. I was not terribly impressed with her. She seemed like a nice old lady;—just very old and very pleasant. The other board members were also quite nice. They all had a great concern for getting new energy in their church to draw in the younger folks. The previous pastor and his wife did a great job in serving the church for many years. But when they decided it was time to retire, the board seized this opportunity to bring in younger leadership for drawing in the younger generations.

During the long day of interviewing with them, I answered all their questions to their satisfaction and the appointment was made for me to deliver a few Sunday sermons in late February. Apparently, they liked what I said to them, and somehow I just knew they would. After all, I do have a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Baptist seminary college with an overall grade average of 3.8. I should know enough about the Bible and theology to be able to deliver some interesting and meaningful sermons. Besides that, these people were looking for someone energetic and young like me to draw in the youth. Plus, they seemed to be very nice Godly people. I just knew it was my assigned calling to be their pastor!

Sure enough! In late March, it happened. I was so excited to hear the good news. They made the decision to bring me in as their pastor. I wasted no time. Two weeks later, I had all my belongings, which included boxes of clothes, my library, and miscellaneous items that a bachelor would find important, completely packed into my car plus a rented trailer which was hooked up behind.

Fortunately, the parsonage I would be living in was completely furnished. So, the only things I actually needed to bring were all my personal belongings, which was not very much. When I arrived late on a Friday afternoon, one of the board members, Mr. Becker met me and showed me around the parsonage and the church property. I had already seen it all but I guess he wanted to make sure I felt at home. I was very excited at these new career prospects. I don’t know if my excitement showed or not, but Mr. Becker just smiled at me. Mr. Becker seemed like a pretty cool dude. He was a bank manager in his 50’s with a pretty wife and three grown kids.

After helping me get all my belongings into the parsonage, he helped me drop off the trailer at the rental office and then invited me to dinner at his house. Their house was only about three miles from the church. It was a beautiful new home, which was kind of surprising for the area because most of the homes in the area were either big old farmhouses or little cottages. Very few of the homes in the area were as new and impressive as Mr. Becker’s home. Then I noticed a street sign on the corner of his property that said, George Becker Court. Later on, I would realize what worldly-mindedness and vanity the sign revealed. For now, I was just surprised and intrigued.

Even more surprising was his beautiful daughter. His wife was also very pretty but his daughter was an absolute knockout with long blond wavy hair and sparking blue eyes. She stood about eight inches shorter than me,—I’m quite tall at six foot two. She had on a teal blue sweater with a neckline that revealed a small peak of cleavage of her well-formed bosom. She was Mr. Becker’s youngest daughter. He introduced me to her as Bonnie.

Mr. Becker had two other children, a son about my age and a twenty-nine year old daughter, both of whom were married and moved out into their own homes in other states near where they had jobs. However, Bonnie, who was twenty-five, had just returned home from college. When I saw her, I could not take my eyes off her because she was just so incredibly beautiful. I was even more enticed by the idea that she was raised in a Christian home. I was really hoping to one day find a beautiful Christian wife and she looked like she could possibly be the one.

When we were introduced, I must have had a stupid look on my face because Mr. Becker made a funny chuckle and invited me into the family room where his enchanting daughter, Bonnie, joined us.

I didn’t even ask you yet. How was your ride here from seminary? Mr. Becker inquired as he sat on the couch in front of the fireplace.

Not bad! As you can see, the weather couldn’t be better, I replied as I glanced over from Bonnie to him. My eyes wandered back to Bonnie, then to the cold fireplace. I didn’t want to look foolish, even though I just wanted to gaze at Bonnie. She was just breath-taking. I really wanted to get to know her better.

I returned a little awkwardly to Mr. Becker’s question. In fact, the weather was great! It wasn’t too cool, and it wasn’t too hot. It was great driving with the windows cracked open.

After a moment of empty silence, I broke in with thoughts about my next steps of business for the evening. After dinner, I have a lot of work to do back at the parsonage, with getting my things put away and my library set up so I can prepare tomorrow for the Sunday service. So I won’t be able to stay long.

Then there was a long silence. Bonnie didn’t say much. It seemed like her mind was elsewhere and Mr. Becker didn’t seem to have anything to say either. So, I decided to try breaking the silence. Mr. Becker, you must be happy to have your daughter staying here with you.

There’s no need for formality now. You are my guest in my home. Please call me George. Then he continued on, Yes, my wife, Betty, and I are very proud of Bonnie. She recently completed her MBA, which some might know as a Masters in Business Administration, and she is now in process of finding work.

I nodded with understanding and George went on. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a 4.0 grade average.

"Wow! That’s outstanding! I bet you are very proud of her! I was really taken back by her now. Not only is she beautiful, but she is very smart!" I thought Bonnie would be flattered by hearing this. But it was hard to tell. She flashed a dry smile my way and looked out the window.

Yes, George responded, we certainly are proud of her, as we are of all our kids. They are all wonderful Christians. Both of our older kids have loving spouses and between the both of them, they’ve given us five beautiful grandchildren.

I respectfully nodded and told him that he and his wife must have been good parents to raise such good kids and that it must be a great experience to have grandchildren.

George looked at Bonnie, then at me. You are probably detecting a little bit of pensiveness in Bonnie right now. She has been applying for management jobs with various major corporations and hasn’t been having very much luck. I think the reason is that even though she has the MBA, she does not have any real experience. I think she thought the corporate world would be chomping at the bit to get her on board. She doesn’t seem to realize people must start out with small steps to get to the bigger jobs.

Dad, I really didn’t want to talk about this right now she responded angrily.

Sorry, Honey. I just figured that Pastor Casler would like to know.

I broke into their conversation, Please, both of you,—just call me Gary.

Bonnie raised one eyebrow in embarrassment, Dad, not everyone needs to know nor wants to know my personal business. Please let’s talk about something else.

A thought sparked in my mind. Seeking to lighten up the atmosphere and possibly somehow connect with Bonnie, I began to discuss some of my plans for building the church. George, I was told by you and the other board members that our church wants to start bringing in the younger members. Have any plans been put in place for drawing their interest? I know we have two youth groups, one for the grade school and one for the high school kids. But do we have anything for the young adults?

He thoughtfully raised his eyebrows. No, not really.

Then I turned my attention to Bonnie. While you’re still in Serendipity, maybe you would like to get involved with helping me to start a young adults’ group. I must admit, my motives were quite opportunistic. It is true that I was already trying to put together ideas for building a young adults’ ministry in the church. But, if I could get Bonnie involved, it might also give me opportunities to get to know her better.

Oh, I guess, she dryly responded. But I really don’t even know how to start such a group.

Well, Bonnie, I’m sure that since you’ve grown up in this town, you probably know quite a few of the people in your age group, like twenty to thirty, who are in college or are working and would like to get together for a social event or a Bible study a couple of times a month.

Hm-m! She seemed to perk up. "That actually sounds quite nice.