Mission Resource Network

     I started with Choice Books the first of April in 2004. Since Monday was still in March, my official anniversary date is March 31, 2004. My first day of training was with Joe Wagler in Laredo, Texas. Laredo has been on my route ever since and is one of my favorite places to go. I trained for 4 days with Joe and then spent 2 days with Myron Wagler learning the handheld. I think I ran with Bryan Wagler one day before I embarked on my own. My first day of servicing by myself was on the Seguin, San Marcos route.

     My first vehicle with Choice was the 97 Ford Box Van which had 230,000 miles on it. In 2006 when I turned it in for the 04 Sprinter I had close to 400,000 miles on it and counting. The Sprinter came with a little over 200,000 miles and that one is a joy to drive.

    I don't work for Choice just because of the vehicles but I do enjoy the driving part and have a lot of the runs that require a lot of driving which is fine. I don't have the exact numbers but having spent 5 of the 6 years previous to Choice on the road pulling 18 wheelers, I am not far now from being a million miler. I wish I could say accident free million, but that is not to be just yet. In September of 04 under rainy and wet conditions I exited the freeway in Laredo a bit too fast, couldn't take the outside lane because of a car that didn't yield, had to slam the brakes, skidded and pushed several cars together. That is not good or fun. It never pays to get in a perceived hurry.

   Ever since the beginning I had routes going into and around Houston. Laredo has been one of my favorites since the start and remains that way. I currently work in Corpus Christi, Laredo, Victoria, Bay City, Angleton/Lake Jackson, and Sugarland/Houston and a number of smaller cities along the roads and between Laredo and Houston.

    A highlight of the year is always to go to the annual meeting in Virginia. And one of the highlights of that is the authors we meet. I especially remember Don Piper, Gianna Jesson and Joshua Harris among others. Then of course also the annual Texas Christmas dinner (supper, breakfast!).

    Like I mentioned I had been over the road on 18 wheels for a number of years. We had been friends of the Waglers since 1990 and Puxico, Missouri. When Choice Books received the HEB project (over 270 stores in one shot) somehow word came around, I interviewed with Alfy in Bastrop, when he was here helping, and I ended up switching 18 for 6 and the rest is history. It was a miracle how God gave me the job that at that time got me home just about every night of the week instead of just weekends. And home weekends for trucking companies is usually something like home Saturdays, leave Sundays, "What do you mean you didn't get the weekend off?".

    And the greatest part of this job is the ministry that is automatically part of it. We distribute great reading material into places that desperately need it and get to meet people along the way, becoming friends with receivers and store personnel such as managers and department heads as well as customers that see you at the rack and stop to talk to you about the need for, well as one lady in Katy, Texas put it, "this place needs all the spiritual help it can get."

    There is something of a satisfaction when you are walking into a store, down the aisle towards the Choice display and you hear someone hollering, "Lester!" You look around and it could be a manager or store personnel that I have now maybe known for up to 3 years and they are wanting to say "Hi" or have some other request.

    So many times we think, "What can one person do?" Wilbur Wilberforce almost singlehandedly brought enough attention to the evils of the slave trade in his time in England years ago, and brought a stop to the practice. I also read where Wesley almost singlehandedly is credited with saving the nation of England from becoming a heathen nation, a man who complained in his 90's that his doctor is not letting him preach more than 14 times a week.

    We can sow a seed, we can spread good news and cheer wherever we go.
Sometimes we think worship of God happens Sunday morning in church during worship time; I believe it happens every moment of our life with everything we do. Let's do it to the best of our ability to His Glory.

Lester Graber, Choice Books Service Representative, South Texas Area,
Texas District, Northern Virginia Division of Choice Books Inc.

Wait a minute, that sounds way too long. Lets try it again.

Lester Graber, servant of Jesus Christ.

Written May 20, 2007, Yoakum, TX