Remembering Wendell

At Sunday night church in Coeur d'Alene, I saw the widow of Wendell Little. Wendell was a contractor who went to the church I attended after I came to Christ. He hired me to tote and fetch for him. Looking back I think he hired me more so that he could influence me for Christ than for the actual work I could do for him. (I wasn’t very good at anything beyond carrying and lifting and suggesting it might be time for a coffee break.) Looking back I realize that Wendell kept shifting conversations to living out my new faith. Wendell wasn’t a systematic theologian, he was a practical theologian. He had a love for Jesus and a heart for a teenager who had just met Jesus. He never preached at me. He didn’t take me through “10 Basic Steps to Maturity” or “Design for Discipleship.” Wendell couldn’t always give me chapter and verse, but looking back I realize he gave me a model of what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. He worked me hard and sat with me over coffee and he pointed me to Jesus. Always to Jesus.