P21The Curious Life of a Preacher's Wife

General: Freestyle Brainstorm, World Building or Research

Carlos, the oldest son of Fuerza and Azul, lived a rather tepid life of schoolteaching for only four years, owned his own yard service for a year, became a merchandiser/vendor of third-party products for four years, attempted to become a professional photographer, and then lived life as a stay-at-home Dad when his daughter was born. "So much potential, so little return on investment" became the tag-line, that typified his life.

Fuerza was, no doubt, disappointed, that the son of his strength was more of a dud, that a success. When Fuerza died, Carlos was still languishing in the shadows of life, wondering if he would ever meet his father's standards, or his own for that matter. Carlos had always wanted to shine in the light, but just like the hosta plant, he seemed to flourish in the shade. However, his heart would not let him be peaceful in the apparent aloneness of the shaded life, being seen only by those with eyes to see, that which is beautiful in out-of-the-way places.

On the other hand, the younger brother, Guio, had the ability to make friends by merely walking into a room, he could lead people to the Lord Jesus to be saved almost as easy as he could breathe. Guio graduated from high school and college with an amazing 4.0 GPA. He got a Master's degree from a secular college, which didn't detract too much from his father's high opinion of him. He finished his educational years with a Master's and a Doctor's degree from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Guio was Fuerza's prized son, who spent years on the mission field. In Guio's case, he went to Taiwan, where he spent the better part of a decade as an ESL teacher, helping Chinese speakers to learn to speak English as much like a native English speaker as is humanly possible. While there he played his trumpet, sang, and acted in weekend stage demonstrations of English-speaking dexterity in which many Chinese individuals gained valuable skill in speaking English, and were introduced to HIStory's Messiah, Jesus Christ, as a glorious bonus.

Guio had great success as a father of three wonderful children, who all went into ministry themselves as a preacher, a nurse, and a teacher.

Guio enjoyed Fuerza's blessing, and apparently the birthright, too. In some very clear ways Guio and Carlos lived the story of Jacob and Esau in the Bible's Book of Genesis. Guio was the family's proven Golden Child, whereas Carlos tried very hard not to be an abject disappointment to those, who knew him, unlike Esau, who intentionally tried to hurt his parents through oppositional living.

Carlos did have some success in ministry. He lead the music ministry of multiple churches, and played a support role as pianist in other churches. He had great success as a poet for many of his earthly years, and started writing novels in his later years. Though he had difficulty seeing his own successes, Carlos was praised by those, who knew him as being a man of character, faithful in the places, where God placed him to serve.

Carlos lived in quiet realms of soft and silent success. He didn't seem to achieve much flashiness in life, but he had the benefit of seeing the dearest ones to him be greatly successful in many areas of worldly and Heavenly acclaim. His brother, Guio, was known the world over as a great man of godly prowess and simple humility. Carlos' daughter, Goza, became a great actress, singer, and speaker for the Lord. Carlos' wife, Pelo, was sought after far and wide as a counselor, who made others beautiful.

Often unseen and unknown, Carlos learned to find hope and satisfaction in the thought, that his own consistency had been a bedrock foundation upon which his family built their successes.

by Jay O’Toole
on October 27th, 2021