The guy I’ve golfed with more than any other the last few years is Mike Olver. Mike is younger than I, slightly shorter, but monumentally stronger. In fact, Mike has muscles in places where I don’t even have places. On most par fours I use a Big Mama one-wood. Mike out-drives me with a three-wood. And sometimes a four-iron. One of these days when he isn’t looking I might just bend his clubs.
Mike has worked as a caterer, and sometimes the manager at our local golf course asks him to help run the clubhouse. Not long ago when the golf course staff held their annual party, Mike was there. Checking people in. Taking phone calls. Flipping burgers. Listening to golf stories.
And, Mike takes nothing in return. No money, no rewards. He wouldn’t want you to know about his generosity, but he is not writing this story. I asked him once why he does it. He said, “What do I need? I’ve got a car that runs, a wife who loves me and a son to golf with.”
His eyes get a little misty when he tells you this. You may wonder why at first. Until Mike tells you the following story.
One dark August day a friend of Mike’s died of a massive heart attack in the prime of life. He had the build of an olympic athlete. He was training for a triathlon with his brother. Mike and his wife were shocked. A few weeks after the funeral the Olvers invited the widow and her eight and ten-year-old over for dinner. Mike noticed her looking at his golf clubs. “My husband was going to take the kids golfing,” she said, staring into the distance. “He didn’t get around to it.” Mike was fighting tears.
“Would you do something?” she asked timidly. “Would you take them golfing with you sometime?”
You already know Mike’s response. Of course he would. “Do they have clubs?” he asked.
“No,” she responded. “But I’ll look for some.”
Last night after Mike finished running things at the club and was preparing to lock up the clubhouse, the manager came over to thank him for filling in. Clearly touched by Mike’s kindness, he said, “You know, you do this for us every year, but you won’t take anything in return. Isn’t there something we can do for you?”
“Maybe,” Mike grinned.
All evening he’d had his eyes on two items in the corner of the pro shop. When he had a few moments he wandered over to examine them. They were two beautiful sets of junior golf clubs.
“Could you give me a deal on those clubs?”
It was the manager’s turn to grin. “Take ‘em,” he said.
Mike couldn’t stop smiling and shaking his head as he told me this. “I’ll get some balls and tees and surprise these kids,” he told me. “And I’ll try to get their mom some lessons so she can take them golfing too.”
True strength has little to do with the physical. True strength has everything to do with gentleness and a servant heart. James 1:27 says, “Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.”
I couldn’t help giving Mike a hug before he revved his engine and took off to tell his wife. And I knew I’d never have the nerve to bend this guy’s clubs.
