Gumption

With Father’s Day approaching I tend to get in a reflective mode. Even though my dad has been gone more than 26 years, I still miss him. But today I am thinking about my grandfather. My grandfather often talked to me about gumption — a word that I really have only heard him use. To him, gumption was a stick-to-it-ness; an ability to hang in there no matter what comes our way.

I knew my Grandfather had gumption for sure. He was married to the same women for more than 50 years. He stuck with farming through the great depression. Not only did he stick with it, he somehow made it profitable when so many others were failing. In fact, I have seen pictures of him taking his family on a vacation to the east coast in 1937. Are you kidding? A farmer in the height of the Great Depression investing in his family in the midst of that economic crisis? That is a great picture of gumption.

He was a faithful friend and father throughout his life. Like my dad, others said he lived with integrity his whole life. He had a quiet, yet powerful walk with God right up to his last days. That doesn’t mean he didn’t struggle, didn’t have times of doubt or didn’t ask questions. He sure was not perfect,  but he did endure. He hung in there and stuck to what was important, no matter what life threw at him.

A couple of things about gumption and people who have it: I think they are pretty clear on the priorities and values they want to commit their live to. They find ways to not only hang in there, but even flourish, when others are caving in. They find ways to stay when others are leaving. That is part of the picture I want to characterize my life. Even as I write this, there are some important things I would love to bail on. Sometimes it takes just as much courage to leave as it does to stay, but that’s a topic for another day. For now, I can think of plenty of times I have come up short, but I want to give it my best shot. This inspiring story of a man with gumption keeps me moving forward.

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