Marian's Legacy--Part 3
Marian lived her whole life without making or spending a great deal of money. I never heard her complain about this. It was apparently a limitation she accepted without bitterness, and it did not keep her from being generous.
Marian told me once about the time at Calvary Bible School when a speaker compellingly told the story of Moses--when God was dealing with him about going to Pharoah on behalf of the Israelites. "What is that in thine hand?" God asked Moses. We know the rest of the story of how God used the rod in Moses' hand to work miracles. Moses needed only to offer it for God's purposes.
When Marian considered what was in her hand that she could offer to God, she saw a dust rag. That provided direction for her, and that's how she got started with cleaning houses and businesses as a means of supporting herself. She worked for a number of different people, and, to my knowledge, the pieces of her work combined never produced a full 40-hour week.
Marian also told me about a time when she was young and her mother expressed frustration with the long list of things she knew she did not want to do to support herself. I never heard that list, but know for sure that she did not shy away from difficult tasks. She was smart enough to know, however, when her skills and any given task were not well matched.
Marian's housework often had to be fitted in around a variety of other responsibilities. The foster children in the household (70 different children over a 20-year time span), and later, the two adopted children, were her first priority. In later years, she helped care for her parents, both of whom lived into their 90s. Her mother survives at the age of 98(?). For the past decade or so, "grandchildren" also needed care at times. It was for these grandchildren that Marian most regretted the prospect of departing this life earlier rather than later.
Between foster care and elder care, Marian and her sister Rosa produced and sold baluts. Baluts are developing duck embryos that are cooked and eaten in some Asian populations. They kept a breeding flock of ducks, and incubated the eggs they produced. When they were at precisely the right stage of development, they packed them up and transported them to Wichita where they were sold in Asian markets.
Ducks are not very tidy in their personal habits, and they do not reliably lay their eggs in any particular location, so gathering the eggs involved plucking them from a messy duck house floor. They needed to be scrubbed before they could be incubated--a job which Marian described as being hard on anyone with a brain. Giving this description was one of the many times Marian poked fun at herself in a way that let others laugh with her. I loved that about Marian. She made me laugh.
When Marian cleaned house for me, I always aimed to pay her whatever I was being paid. When I got a raise, she got a raise. I considered her service to me as valuable as my service to others at school. At the beginning, I had confirmed that this was not short-changing her, in relation to what others were paying her.
Shane remembers how, on the day of his wedding, Marian pressed a $50.00 bill into his hand, to use on their honeymoon, or wherever else it was needed. That was a memorable gift, coming straight from her generous heart and modest supply. She told me later that in the chaotic time leading up to the wedding, she had not found time to shop for a gift or even prepare a card, but when she thought of that $50.00 bill, probably from having cashed a housecleaning check, she hoped desperately that she might be able to connect with Shane to give it to him at the wedding. Since she didn't even have a card, it could hardly be included with the other gifts. It worked out, and she was thankful.
I don't know specifics of Marian's financial situation in the last part of her life. I would guess that her financial net worth rested almost entirely in the big old house she owned. I can almost imagine her saying with a chuckle: I guess it came out almost exactly right, didn't it? Just enough, and nothing left over.
These are the elements of Marian's legacy in relation to work and finances that I want to remember:
1. Embrace who God made you to be--in considering the work you will do.
2. Live within whatever means that payment for your work provides.
3. Remember that making money can probably never be the highest priority if God orders the priorities.
4. Don't complain about not having enough money.
5. Don't spend money you don't have.
6. Do hard, dirty work without complaining, if that's what is needed.
7. Be generous with whatever money you have.
Thank you Marian, for living well in the area of work and finances.
Marian told me once about the time at Calvary Bible School when a speaker compellingly told the story of Moses--when God was dealing with him about going to Pharoah on behalf of the Israelites. "What is that in thine hand?" God asked Moses. We know the rest of the story of how God used the rod in Moses' hand to work miracles. Moses needed only to offer it for God's purposes.
When Marian considered what was in her hand that she could offer to God, she saw a dust rag. That provided direction for her, and that's how she got started with cleaning houses and businesses as a means of supporting herself. She worked for a number of different people, and, to my knowledge, the pieces of her work combined never produced a full 40-hour week.
Marian also told me about a time when she was young and her mother expressed frustration with the long list of things she knew she did not want to do to support herself. I never heard that list, but know for sure that she did not shy away from difficult tasks. She was smart enough to know, however, when her skills and any given task were not well matched.
Marian's housework often had to be fitted in around a variety of other responsibilities. The foster children in the household (70 different children over a 20-year time span), and later, the two adopted children, were her first priority. In later years, she helped care for her parents, both of whom lived into their 90s. Her mother survives at the age of 98(?). For the past decade or so, "grandchildren" also needed care at times. It was for these grandchildren that Marian most regretted the prospect of departing this life earlier rather than later.
Between foster care and elder care, Marian and her sister Rosa produced and sold baluts. Baluts are developing duck embryos that are cooked and eaten in some Asian populations. They kept a breeding flock of ducks, and incubated the eggs they produced. When they were at precisely the right stage of development, they packed them up and transported them to Wichita where they were sold in Asian markets.
Ducks are not very tidy in their personal habits, and they do not reliably lay their eggs in any particular location, so gathering the eggs involved plucking them from a messy duck house floor. They needed to be scrubbed before they could be incubated--a job which Marian described as being hard on anyone with a brain. Giving this description was one of the many times Marian poked fun at herself in a way that let others laugh with her. I loved that about Marian. She made me laugh.
When Marian cleaned house for me, I always aimed to pay her whatever I was being paid. When I got a raise, she got a raise. I considered her service to me as valuable as my service to others at school. At the beginning, I had confirmed that this was not short-changing her, in relation to what others were paying her.
Shane remembers how, on the day of his wedding, Marian pressed a $50.00 bill into his hand, to use on their honeymoon, or wherever else it was needed. That was a memorable gift, coming straight from her generous heart and modest supply. She told me later that in the chaotic time leading up to the wedding, she had not found time to shop for a gift or even prepare a card, but when she thought of that $50.00 bill, probably from having cashed a housecleaning check, she hoped desperately that she might be able to connect with Shane to give it to him at the wedding. Since she didn't even have a card, it could hardly be included with the other gifts. It worked out, and she was thankful.
I don't know specifics of Marian's financial situation in the last part of her life. I would guess that her financial net worth rested almost entirely in the big old house she owned. I can almost imagine her saying with a chuckle: I guess it came out almost exactly right, didn't it? Just enough, and nothing left over.
These are the elements of Marian's legacy in relation to work and finances that I want to remember:
1. Embrace who God made you to be--in considering the work you will do.
2. Live within whatever means that payment for your work provides.
3. Remember that making money can probably never be the highest priority if God orders the priorities.
4. Don't complain about not having enough money.
5. Don't spend money you don't have.
6. Do hard, dirty work without complaining, if that's what is needed.
7. Be generous with whatever money you have.
Thank you Marian, for living well in the area of work and finances.
posted by Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige) at
7:39 PM
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