This story was told to me at my dinner table. The old gentleman’s eyes looked away as he told me this story from his youth back in the 1930’s. It made me stop and take note of the small things that can create such a big difference. The man recounted that it was going to be a perfect day. His class was going down to the lake for a class outing and picnic. Each student was to bring a sack lunch for the day.
The boy was the son of a farmer and times were very lean in 1930’s for rural farmers. The boy gave his mother a week’s notice that he would need to take his lunch. On the day of the outing his mother handed him a sack lunch with a tomato biscuit, a country ham biscuit, and a biscuit with homemade butter and jam on it. The boy excited about the day, kissed his mother and left for school.
The walk to the lake was enlightening for the boy as he heard everyone ask one another what they had brought for lunch. As the students headed toward the lake the boy held back and found an old stump with a hole in it. He quickly shoved his sack lunch down the stump hole and ran after his classmates. When it was time for lunch he pretended not to hear the voice of his young teacher. She was new to the small country school and had come from the city.
The teacher called to him again and this time there was no ignoring the urgency or tone of her voice. “Where is your lunch?” she asked when he joined the group with no lunch sack. “I forgot it at home” he replied. “Well, then you can have my tomato sandwich” and with that statement she handed him her sandwich and then reached into her purse and pulled out a slightly crumpled dirt smudged sack.
“I am going to have a biscuit” and with that she pulled out the country ham biscuit the boy’s mother had packed and started to eat it and commented to the children that she had never had a country ham biscuit before. The boy stared at her with dismay.
The old man paused as he told the story and his voice caught for a moment. He explained then that he had been ashamed of the lunch his mother had packed as it was a poor farmer’s lunch. That morning on the walk over to the lake he had heard that the other children were all having white bread sandwiches; which back in the 1930’s was a luxury.
The man’s eyes focused on me as he finished his story. He said, “After all these years I still remember her and how much pride I felt as she ate my mother’s biscuit.” He then added, “She was a good teacher.” It was a tender mercy.
Do you ever wonder if those kinds of moments still happen? Those someone helping someone “tender mercy” kind of moments. Well, I can honestly tell you they do. I hear them every week. I hear our staff asking questions and helping people see some hope after what we have shared with them. Take a conversation that , Elise, in our contact center, had with a member regarding her checking account. As they spoke Elise brought up the possibility of refinancing her auto loan that is already financed with us to see if this could save her some money. When was the last time a Big Bank offered a teaching moment on how you could pay them less money?
As they continued to talk we discovered that the members spouse had recently been laid off after many years with AT & T leaving the family with just one income. Long story short we worked with our member to reduce their rate 2.50%, which then reduced their payment $254.00 dollars per month. The members reaction at the end was that being a part of Truliant Federal Credit Union and calling in that day about her checking account has been a blessing in disguise.
Contact us today and let’s talk about what’s important to you and let’s see how we can help each other. Members teaching members and trying to improve thier financial lives. It’s what we do at Truliant.