Changing the Ballgame

The person I am writing about today is someone I wanted to interview for the Heritage Hope Home celebration of Hayes Barton Baptist Church’s 85 years because he is really interesting to me.  It may be his New York accent which is somewhat unique in our church.  It may be the dry sense of humor he occasionally voices in Sunday School.  It may be that he asks a lot of really good questions in Sunday School class.  Or it may be because I really like his wife Joyce who I am also going to write about.  All of those “may bes” are important and contribute to the real reason that was revealed when I sat down and talked with him. 

Bob Lenkeit was born in Queens, New York, and lived the majority of his life in New York before moving to North Carolina with Joyce in 1994. Adopted by German immigrants as a baby, Bob shared that “a lot of strength came from a happy childhood.”

Confirmed at thirteen in the Lutheran church, Bob had not spent a lot of life going to church, yet he has given much thought to his faith journey and is willing to share it in a way that is very refreshing.  Not boastful; not bashful.  Just…”this is what happened to me”:

This happened about thirty years ago.  At the job I had at the time, I had a habit of eating lunch in my car and taking a quick nap.  One day a very strong feeling came over me and a question came to my mind:  what am I going to do with Jesus Christ?  I hadn’t been in church since I was thirteen.  I had put Jesus on the shelf.  I knew He was there, and I had put Him on hold.

Then, that day, I just woke up.  I even said to myself:  “It’s not too late, and it’s time now.”  I started going to different churches and heard about a Baptist church that was nearby.  The sermons were great.  Eventually, I made a profession of faith and had a full baptism.  I thought, “The past is behind me now.”  It was a good feeling.  It is a good feeling.  Life is a whole different ballgame.  Everything is different.  It was a good change; not hard for me.  Good.

 Bob met Joyce sometime after what he calls his “awakening.”   They met playing bridge, one of their passions.  Of their meeting, Bob shares his thoughts: “This is something serious.  I thought, I think I am in love with that woman.”  Their long courtship was followed by a wedding and then a move to the warmer climate of North Carolina and to Joyce’s childhood church, Hayes Barton Baptist Church.

“I really liked it.  I felt it was a warm church,” recalls Bob.  “It has a good atmosphere.  I’d never been to Sunday School but found that this is what we do.  It has turned out to be a nice part of our life.  We care about each other.  It is the real thing.”

One of the real “real things” Bob has done for five years is to serve as a hospice volunteer.  “It was not something that I would normally do, but I signed up because I was told, ‘They need men,’” says Bob.  His experiences have not been depressing even though that is what many people expect him to describe when he shares that he is a volunteer.  “Not one of the people I’ve worked with has been depressed about dying,” says Bob. “Not one of them.”

Talking of his hospice volunteering somehow led us to talking about the rate at which World War II veterans are dying.  Having a dad who was a WW II veteran, I was all ears when Bob talked of how he feels about the “Greatest Generation.”  “There are fewer and fewer of them,” says Bob.  “When I see someone who looks to be of that generation, I make a point to shake his hand.  And I ask, ‘Did you serve?’ If he says “yes,” I shake his hand again.  And then I say, ‘Thank you for what you did when we children slept in our warm beds.’”

Ahh…now I know why I was drawn to interviewing Bob.  While all the “may bes” played a part in it, the reason was this last piece of sharing.  Bob is a man after my own heart doing what he does with the WW II vets.  I wish my dad were alive to meet him and have his hand shaken.  Thanks, Bob, for doing what you do.  And thanks for sharing your “awakening story.”  May others draw comfort and confidence in knowing that it is never too late in life to change the ballgame you are playing.