[Granville-Hough] Remembering Granville Hough

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

One of today's tasks was to close the checking account for the Granville
and Carol Hough Trust.    All known debts were paid and all known credits
were received.    My sisters and I are indebted to our father for taking
care of as many of his final arrangements far in advance, and for gradually
reducing his material possessions to just what he needed for his various
ongoing projects.    Thus the burden on us as trustees and executors was
as small as possible.

One way that any of us can honor his example is by making our own arrangements
in a timely way for the benefit of our heirs.

Recently in church the scripture reading was about rendering to Caesar the
things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.    Going over
my father's checkbook later that day, I was struck by observing
that the last two checks he wrote were to the IRS for his income taxes, 
and to Lutheran Church of the Cross for his weekly pledge payment.

He was faithful to both duties, something I've come to appreciate more fully
in my own life when I have served as treasurer and then pledge recorder in
my own church.      Those who have to pay the bills to keep a church
building and paid employees going really come to appreciate faithful pledgers!

I believe Granville once told a story about his father Elisha Hough taking
the position in a church meeting that in a rural subsistence farming community 
where nobody had a fixed income, neither should the pastor have a fixed
income, but should rely on faith and free will, as his flock does.
Nowadays a majority of suburban church members have relatively fixed
incomes, and so we try to extend the same convenience to our clergy.


David Hough