Do The Right Thing Contributor Bio: Roger Metzger

By way of introduction, I was privileged to grow up on a general farm operation (back then that meant hogs, sheep, dairy and beef cattle, hay, corn, soybeans, wheat, oats) where the work was plentiful and the money wasn’t.

My brother and I grew up knowing what hard work was, what it meant for everyone to do their part and to do it right and take pride in the labor and a job well done. Along the way there was time for fishing and hunting for squirrels, rabbits, quail and the occasional duck, goose or pheasant, plus trapping and hunting furbearers to supplement my income.

My parents deserve a lot of credit, I’m sure, and maybe to some extent the First Baptist Church where I endured Sundays in an itchy wool suit as a lad … but my first real awareness of God came in wandering those hilly fields and woodlands of northeastern Indiana.

No one had the chance to try to convince me about the creation/evolution issue … what I found in nature as a youngster, starting at pre-school age, made me understand this was God’s creation, in which he had every right to be pleased!

My parents, I’m sure, created in me a love for reading. And from all the reading I did, God helped build in me an untrained ability to write, winning a nationwide high school editorial contest as a high school senior and being offered a job at the local paper before I had graduated.

With that gift and an eagerness to work hard, I was able to enjoy a most-rewarding career that brought me in touch with an amazing number of interesting events and wonderful people. Through that and other experiences, God has always cared and provided for me.

Through His grace, I survived a head-on highway crash and have been blessed with a 50-year marriage to a wonderful help-mate and family (three children and their spouses, plus six grandchildren) who all are more of a blessing than I could possibly deserve.

In retirement, we’ve been able to travel and also hopefully make a contribution back to our community and our fellow man through various service activities. God keeps opening rewarding new opportunities, sometimes just in contacts and situations of our daily lives and other times in things like getting to know Pastor Ed and being able to share some thoughts in Do The Right Thing!

Note from Cyber Pastor: Roger is also a Presidential Prayer Team Ambassador. The picture above is Roger on the left; John Lind, PPT CEO, and I am on the right. With 50 years of newspaper experience and his conservative values, Roger is a welcome addition and also my good friend.