Iowa is full of poverty

Each day when we came here to Iowa I would meet people that appeared to have poverty mindsets. Over ten years later and many trials and tribulations I can somewhat understand how they arrived at those mindsets. Then again I look back to dear people we have met along the way who touched our hearts forever. Those wonderful type persons who are unforgettable. These may not be the same ones others would see as we have. For instance a dear young attorney who will always be in my heart.

On the day we met him he had been trampled to the soul by the local politics and life in general. He had spent years going to college to get that law degree to be trampled by life on earth and local politics. A true hometown type guy if you ever met one. His license had been pulled for some infraction. He was good at his profession and he had a heart as big as he was. We had all became immediate friends. It was as if we had always been friends. He was one of those people that you just met but it was as if you have always known each other. None of us would know how short that special friendship would be here on earth. In a few short days he was gone. Found hung at his mothers place. It would take years to link back to those days in our minds what happened. There where he was found was no means by which a person could have ended up dangling by a rope all by their lonesome. No chairs, boxes or tables that he could have climbed up on to dive off of with that rope around his neck. Nothing! Regardless of all the odd circumstances surrounding the conditions in which he was found no one was investigating the matter. The report simply claimed suicide was the cause of death.

It was hard to conceive yet we had only known him a very short time. I rarely attend funerals but I did that one. At the request of his wife we were there. We listened to the comments of those close to our new friend and those things could stick for years. Yet the pieces did not fit. The shock of such a dearly loved person was to difficult for those who loved him to take.

I listened as his family told us their most major concerns. They did not believe he was saved. I asked them "How could you know that?" They shared what was on their hearts. So I shared with them the long conversation that he and I had a few days before this had happened. Only God knows the heart of a man and sometimes He shares these special moments to let us know what He sees. I was privileged to see the heart of our new dear friend before tragedy took his young life away. He had great hope and was such a huble man. Then I was able to share that with his broken hearted family. None of that though explained what really and truly happened to him that awful night his life was taken away.

He was researching property in the local area. We would not understand what had peeked his interest so much in our place until the last couple of years. That first day at our place he stood there at the North end of the property and stated, "So this is Teeter's place" as he looked intently at the area of valley we lived in. It would be years before we would actually know why he looked at the place with such a wondering look on his face. It was like he knew something about the place we didn't as a pleased look came over his face. At the time we simply assumed it was because of the junkyard that was once there. Having no real clue to what had been happening in the place for years or the history behind the place we lived. I cannot say if our new friend knew about the forever patent 911 on the land. I would imagine by the room at his house that stacked to the ceiling with boxes of documents that he had collected with the property research files of Decatur County that I had seen in his house. In looking back I think he knew about the land and the patent. We would find in our own search for what transpired that our friend had been hanging around with certain people that seemingly were involved in some of these funky land transfers. Today it is more understandable what may have happened to him that night. One of his friends at the funeral told us, "I don't know why he stayed there. He didn't belong there". I have to agree. Our friend was to good for this world and they did not deserve him.

The next day we were all going to meet first thing in the morning. We had tried to convince our new friend to stay the night and wait to go so far that late at night. He insisted he had been waiting for years to meet this person that had agreed to meet him that night. The next morning it was to late for our friend. He did not show up. Instead his wife came to tell us what had happened to him. They had been having problems and he had not been staying at her house. So the general idea that was spread was that is why he hung himself. We knew it was not so yet powerless to make a difference. His family was asking for the matter to be fully investigated yet their cries went unheard. Why? I have asked myself the same question yet know I have a better understanding of why. It would not seem that anyone could live in such a place as this but these things happen daily in the world. Sometimes it seems as small voices go unheard in the wilderness. Yet I know the One that hears the voice of the poor and their cries are definitely heard even if the world ignores them and treats them as a scourge rather than the precious jewels they are. I hold onto hope and the knowledge God is still in control and He is the creator of justice regardless of those who may think they have gotten away with their crimes.

The murderous souls that have no regard for those special hearts have no place to hide as the King of Kings creates true justice. Money can not buy everything. Not everything is for sale. Riches of the world cannot save the soul.