Art and Nora Schreurs: Simply Generous

"The people who influence us most are not those who buttonhole us and talk to us, but those who live their lives like stars in heaven and the lilies of the field, perfectly simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold us." (My Utmost for His Highest)
Art was part owner of a fairly successful coal business before he retired. You wouldn't have known it by the way he and Nora lived. Their house was clean and functional - sturdy:) - but nothing extravagant. Nora often wore a plain shift and walked regularly to the West Side bakery to pick up day old bread for themselves and a struggling family in the church. She still used a wringer washer in the 80's and prided herself in making her own secret recipe lye soap and she hung out the wash regularly. When Art was in the nursing home, the summer we lived with her, the wasted food was abhorring to her. When we stayed with them, we felt wasteful giving our toddlers baths each night and even hid our Big Boy bucket from our take out order of fish.
You wouldn't have known right away that hey had lost one of their two daughters, her husband and three children in a landslide, while they were serving as missionaries in New Guinea - a heartbreak that stays forever wih any and all parents.
Yet, they continued to have the young people in their home Sunday nights for Bible study. I don't drink tea but I always sipped on a cup when Nora offered one to me. Art always had a twinkle in his eye for Nora and as he shared his Bible maps and wisdom with us.
When I needed to raise $800 for my training time with Campus Crusade, he told me to come over when the time was close. I know he had decided to give me whatever monies were still needed. I had most of it but he made up the rest. When I hadn't received a paycheck yet - and had been asked to cosign on a loan to pay it - I asked for his wisdom. He gave me a check for $100 , calling it a loan that didn't need to be repaid. I learned a lot from that and was actually able to pay him back before I needed to cash it. My parents didn't have much money towards my wedding, which didn't bother me because I knew they didn't have it. He and Nora gave us $100 towards our simple reception. I heard from someone else hat they matched a 1/3 or 2/3's of a building fund, though I never heard that from them.
Nora had a little weathered newspaper clipping tacked up on a bulletn board about how much we could give if we each saved all of our paper clips, rubber bands,... That's how they lived. Their love for God, us and each other were the most valued treasures they gave.