John drummed his finger on the side of the elevator. It only took thirty seconds to ride down from the 29th floor, that is if someone was not getting on at every floor, but it always seemed to be an incredibly long and boring ride. John determined that at five-years-old. Recently, he declared that it had only gotten more boring in the twenty-six years since then. He was itching for something different. The daily grind of work was getting to him. Life seemed to be going down in the same boring way the elevator was.
The elevator stopped on the 18th floor. An older lady got on. She gave John a sweet smile, which he returned. As she attempted to put some papers in her purse, one of them fell to the ground. John picked it up. Perhaps, it was due to the fact that he worked with numbers all day or maybe it was something else, but his eyes fell on the number part way down the page: $836,790.00. His eyes widened in a bit of surprise. That was a lot of money. He wondered what it represented and hoped it was not a bill. Silently, he handed the paper back the lady.
“Oh, thank you,” she replied, “I’m afraid I can be a bit clumsy and did not have time to get everything organized. People these days do hurry things so.”
John could not help smiling. “Yes,” he agreed. “Life does seem to be in a hurry around here.”
“I have never gotten used to it,” she declared, “I live outside of town and try to avoid coming in whenever necessary but when one gets a startling letter telling them they have received an incredibly large inheritance, one has to see a lawyer, you know.”
John nodded. “I am sorry for your loss,” he said, “but it is nice when they leave an inheritance and definitely consulting a lawyer is a good idea.”
“Well, I did not feel the loss. I never knew the fellow who left me the money. It was my cousin, at least that is what the official information says. He left everything to his nearest blood relative. I’ve lived eighty-two years and never heard of this fellow, Frank Calkin. But I am indebted to him, I suppose, although goodness knows what I shall do with that money.”
“Sounds like a novel,” John remarked. “It does make one curious how you never knew about this cousin. I have often wished some unknown relative would arrive in my life and leave me an inheritance.”
The lady laughed. “I think so too,” she agreed. “I’m half inclined to travel to England, where he lived, and learn what I can about him. But, I have no one to go with me and I do not want to make the trip alone.”
The elevator had reached the ground floor. “Is your family from England?” John asked as they were crossing the main entrance way. He held open the front door for her.
“Yes,” she said, “I was actually born over there shortly after the war, then my father moved us here. I’ve never been back except for a brief visit when I was in my thirties. Most of the rest of my life, I lived in Papa New Guinea, and only just recently moved back to America when my husband’s health got bad five years ago.”
“I’ve always wanted to visit England,” John remarked. “I know this is a bit strange since we just met, but this all does seem like a story, so if you would let me, I would be pleased to offer my services to escort you to England.”
“I’d enjoy that,” she said. “I do want to go and the more I think about it the more curious I am. I am Ann Ball.” She said, as she held out her hand.
John took it in his. “And I’m John Steele,” he said giving it a handshake. “Let’s become adventure partners and go explore.”
The next few weeks flew by in a flurry of activity as they got ready for an international trip. Two weeks and three days later, their plane took off. As they flew over the Atlantic Ocean, John asked Mrs. Ball about the history of her family. It was quite simple. Mrs. Ball had a brother and sister, her sister was a few years younger than her and her brother had passed away two years previously. Calkin was her maiden name, so she assumed that this relative must have come from that side of the family. But that stumped her. Her father had a sister and brother, but his brother had died during the war and his sister had married but never had children.
“How come you offered to go on this trip,” Mrs. Ball asked turning to John suddenly, after they had been flying for seven hours. “It’s a long way to go and there is nothing in it for you.”
John laughed. “I never thought about anything in it for me,” he said, “Truth is, life had gotten boring for me and seemed to be going downhill slowly. It was nearly driving me crazy. This is just an escape from the boredom of life. I once thought getting older would make life more interesting, but I was mistaken in that. Work, work, work, is all it seems to be, and it gets to me after away. It seems so pointless. If you know what I mean. Did you ever feel that?”
Mrs. Ball shook her head. “I know what you mean, but life was never boring for me. It was very exciting.”
“And what made it that way?” John asked.
Mrs. Ball got a sweet smile on her face. “Adventure! You see, my husband and I lived to serve God and that always resulted in adventure.”
John looked surprised. Mrs. Ball did not notice, her face shown as she thought about everything God had done for them. “There is nothing more exciting than seeing God work,” she continued, “and we saw him work in some incredible ways. There is so much more to life when it is lived with God. He came to give us life and give it more abundantly.”
John regarded her with a puzzled expression. “I always saw religion as a boring thing,” he remarked. “It seemed so static and organized.”
Mrs. Ball laughed. “Religion may be boring, but a relationship never is. God is more willing to go on crazy adventures than you were to go with me on this trip. Often he asks us to do things that are crazy.”
Mrs. Ball went on to relate many examples of this. John could not deny them, but they did surprise him.
They landed in London. John was amazed at how easily Mrs. Ball navigated through customs. The next day found themselves standing outside the office of Frank Calkin’s lawyer. “Do you think they will tell us anything,” Mrs. Ball asked John as he held the door open for her.
“It’s hard to say,” John replied. “I do not know the confidentiality agreements for lawyers in England.”
The lawyer was quite glad to see them but could not give them many personal details. He knew the Frank had lived with his mother and step-father and that he had a step-sister, who passed away some years previous leaving a behind her a daughter and granddaughter, but that was the extent of his knowledge.
Mrs. Ball thanked him. Later in the day, they caught a train to the town where Frank had lived. It was raining when they arrived. When they went to check-in at their hotel, the receptionist seemed surprised and said they had no reservations and that there were no available rooms. It did not matter that John said he had called earlier in the day. John was frustrated as they stepped back out into the wet darkness.
Mrs. Ball smiled pleasantly beside him. “We will find another place to stay,” she said, unfazed by this.
“There is not another hotel in this town,” John grumbled. “I can’t believe they messed up our reservation!”
Mrs. Ball gently touched his arm, “We can go to the next town. Perhaps they have room there. Anyways, I know this is all for God’s best.”
John looked at her in amazement but did not say a word. He hailed a taxi and they drove to the only hotel in the next town. John was relieved that they had available rooms and soon they settled in for the night. Mrs. Ball stopped by the front desk to ask a question on the way out. John stepped outside to wait for her. When she came out, a large smile covered her face.
“I told you coming to this hotel was for the best,” she said.
“Oh?” John asked curiously.
“The gal working behind the front desk is Frank Calkin’s great-niece. She’s going to introduce us to her mother when she gets off work. So, we just have to explore the town until then.”
They explored the town and enjoyed going to the old church and the cemetery where Frank was buried. That evening they met Frank’s step-niece, who filled Mrs. Ball on the history of the family. Mrs. Ball gave her a generous amount of the inheritance, since she was the closer relative, just not in blood. They spent a week in that part of England sightseeing. John did a lot of thinking during this time. On the last evening there, he told Mrs. Ball that he wanted to know her God and wanted a faith and peace that she had.
Mrs. Ball told him about the man from Nazareth who never sinned, yet became sin for us, how he died, was buried, and rose again three days later, and that faith in His name is what saves us from our sin. All we must do is give everything to him, tell him we are not good enough, and ask Him for forgiveness and trust that He gives it. John listened intently and when Mrs. Ball was finished, he dedicated himself to the Lord.
“You know,” Mrs. Ball commented, as they flew back to America, “You have received an inheritance far more precious than what Frank left me.”
John gave her a puzzled expression. Mrs. Ball opened her Bible to 1 Peter 1:3-4 and read, “He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” She looked up at John with a sweet smile, “So you see, you too have received an inheritance.”
John smiled back. Yes, he had found an inheritance and far more than that.