Shiny Things and Golden Handcuffs

Scott:

I’ve never hunted raccoons, but I have read Wilson Rawls’ book, Where The Red Fern Grows, and that pretty much makes me an expert on coon hunting. I have this image in my mind of the trap Billy Coleman set to catch his first racoon. The racoon was enticed to stick its paw through a narrow hole into the trap and grab a shiny thing Billy had placed there. The hole was just wide enough for his paw to pass through empty handed but too small to retract it balled up with something clutched in his paw. All the racoon has to do to free itself is let go. But it wouldn’t let go. It's stuck.

You may have heard the term, “golden handcuffs.” It refers to being held captive in an undesirable job because the compensation is just too good. People with golden handcuffs give the best part of their life to a career they dislike because the pay is better than other more rewarding and enjoyable, although less remunerative, employment options.

There are other ways we end up living a lessor life. Sometimes it's just the little comforts we don't want to give up. This is us. Three years ago, Kathy and I moved back to our old neighborhood in Providence, Utah after being away for 14 years. We love being among our long-time friends. I grew up in this neighborhood. It is very comfortable. Why would we ever want to leave?

We have talked about serving together as missionaries for our church one day, but we were thinking it would be a few years out. I was still working and uncertain about when to retire. But then one day in October the phone rang, and we were invited to meet with a member of the First Presidency of our church, President Oaks. He called us to be mission leaders. We accepted not knowing where we would be sent. Two and a half months later we were informed we will be opening a new mission in Bo, Sierra Leone—rural West Africa. Wow. We will leave the comforts of home and spend the next three years in one of the poorest countries in the world. We are told there are no grocery stores within the boundaries of our mission, no electricity for more than three-quarters of the people, and an expectation that we will get malaria and typhoid fever, at least once. I probably won’t be able to do my regular training runs outside. The terrain is flat—no mountain climbing for three years. It will be hot and humid all year long and we don’t expect to have good air conditioning. Our time with family will be facilitated by such online platforms as Zoom and WhatsApp. This week I had my last dentist appointment--I’m packing 50 toothbrushes and boxes of dental floss.

When Jesus said if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it—He meant find a better life. We trust Him. We can’t wait to see what it will be like.