Long ago, in a dark and wet kingdom far away called, Vancouver, Canada there was a tiny house. In the top part of this house lived three people: a Mother and her two teen-age children. Her young teen-aged daughter, named Laura-Lee, was beautiful beyond belief, as well as talented and brilliant and kind and sweet and sought after by all the young princes and (Well. You get the idea) ...
In the bottom part of this house lived another three people: a young couple with their new baby girl, named Jessica. Because all these people loved Jesus He did a wonderful thing for them. He turned these two groups of strangers into one "Christian" family. They all loved each other equally, but Laura-Lee and Rod had a special level to their relationship because they both loved music so much that it was like air to them. They needed it to survive each day.
My typical day would begin by grabbing my book bag and quietly going downstairs, so not to wake the sleeping Karen and Jessica, and would find Rod finishing up his bowl of cereal. We didn't speak much in the mornings. Rod would just grab his coat and lunch box and we'd head out the door to begin our day by him giving me a ride each morning to my tiny, Christian high school before he drove off to work in the 'paper' factory. Day in and day out he did this. Come rain or come shine.
Also attached to the bottom part of this house was one room that wasn't very nice. It was dark with cement walls that had a sort of wet ooze that came off of them. One day Rod decided he was going to fix up this room and turn it into a little music studio. It took many days of hard work and he wouldn't let anyone see it until he was done. When he was finally finished he invited me in to see what he had accomplished. I was truly amazed at the transformation. It was bright and clean and quite lovely.
This was also the first time Rod gave me a complete tour of all his guitars and pedals and musical paraphernalia. Up until then I basically only knew which was his main electric guitar and his main acoustic guitar, but the rest were a bit of a blur. But as he showed me around his new room his eyes took on a special gleam when they came to rest on one special guitar that was on a guitar stand. I knew that this particular guitar was very special to him. Not only more valuable money-wise but special to him in a personal way too. He said that when he was renovating that not-very-pleasant room, he was actually doing it as a show piece to highlight this specific guitar. The effect was quite remarkable.
Every day when Rod would come home from work, after first spending time playing "Jessica-the-airplane", he would go into his music room, shut the door and play his guitars and express his emotions of the day. From upstairs where I lived I could hear him play and actually tell what type of day he had had by how he played his music. He never complained about his job, but I knew he was getting a particularly bad time from several of the people he worked with because he was a Christian. He would be a "witness" and tell them about Jesus and what Jesus had done for him personally.
One morning, as he was driving me to school, he broke our usual silence to tell me he had a problem he was struggling with. He had met some people through church ( some missionaries I believe) that were doing really good work for the Lord but were quite poor and needed some extra money to continue what they were doing for the Lord. Rod was sure Jesus wanted him to give them some money but he didn't know how much or where he was going to get the money from. Rod had already given his tithe (* a "tithe" is when a Christian gives 10% of all that he earns back to the Lord) for the month and since somebody wasn't actually starving or homeless or anything that drastic, Rod didn't feel right taking anything away from his young family that was his responsibility to support. Yet he still felt a "burden" to give to these missionaries. It was obviously weighing on him. So I suggested that if Jesus wanted him to give some money to these people, then Jesus would probably have the solution as to where the money was going to come from and he should ask the Lord directly.
It was a couple days later, again during the drive to my school, when I noticed that Rod was in a really good mood. He told me he had taken my advice and asked the Lord directly about where to get the money to give. Apparently, Jesus had told him to look around and see if there was anything he could sell that was his personally and then give the money he made to those people in need. Rod was excited that the Lord had responded so quickly and he was actually light-hearted because he had found the solution. He wasn't taking any money away from his family and by making a personal sacrifice, it would also always keep these people and their "cause" close to his heart.
It sounded like a really good solution to me too. Then we fell into our usual silence again as we continued on.
When we reached my school I jumped out of the car, grabbed my book bag, and just before I slammed the door shut I asked Rod, "What are you going to sell?"
He said he was going to sell his "special" guitar. And with a smile and wave he drove off. Yes. His most prized possession. The one he had spent days renovating that entire room around.
It made quite an impression on my little teen-age mind and heart. To me, it's not just the quintessential Rod Partington, but the epitome of how we should give. The Bible verse: "The Lord loves a cheerful giver." jumped into my mind.
When I saw that Stephen [Partington] had set up the Facebook Group in support of Rod and his family I thought quite pessimistically, "Does Stephen think people are just going to start sending money to Rod and his Family? That will probably be waiting LONG for a train that just 'ain't gonna come'."
So I set up the "GoFundMe" Campaign to make it easier for people to give. Then the first giving goal was met in just a few hours and I felt ashamed and this memory about the guitar jumped back into my mind.
I want to humbly thank all of you who have given. Not just to the campaign I set up but to the Partingtons personally and also in encouragement and continuing prayers.
I thank the Lord for AGAIN teaching me that people are very willing to live out their faith (I should know that one by now!).
I thank the Partingtons for letting me be part of their lives - even in this small way.
And I thank you for making me eat my bitter thoughts and words (I've never enjoyed such a crappy tasting meal so much).
... and of course, to Rod, who helped set the foundation for a lifetime of witnessing what it means to be a "cheerful giver".
And I know, Rod, that God truly does love one. So do I.
'ONE' in particular, very much.
Most Sincerely, Laura-Lee
