Tribute to a Job Well Done
by Don Sniff
Pastor, Fowler Christian Church
Psa 90:12 Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
With the passing of such an able administrator as Dr. Larry Vibber, I reflect on the brevity of life. The prophet Job tells us that our days fly by ‘faster than a weaver’s shuttle’, and no matter how few or how many days have been allotted to us, “our days on earth are as a shadow.”
I spoke with Dr. Vibber often when our paths crossed, and urged him almost every single time, to retire and thus reduce the stress in his life. I wanted Dr. Vibber to retire, not because he wasn’t doing a good job, but because I had watched the ailment which finally claimed Dr. Vibber’s life claim the life of my mother, and I hoped that he might enjoy many more years without the debilitating effects of his ailment. I had seen what stress did in my mother’s life, and I knew what stress would do in Dr. Vibber’s life as well, and running a school district has its stresses. But Dr. Vibber was foremost an administrator…it was his calling in life. And let me add for all to read, I am proud of the public school system in Fowler, Colorado, and it exists in its present excellent condition because the captain of the ship piloted it through decades of administrative weather. Dr. Vibber did his job, and he did it well. I had hoped that he might be able to enjoy, in retirement, the well-deserved fruit of his labors, but the Lord in Heaven had His plan. As King David said, “All the days ordained for me were written in Your Book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16). So the number of days ordained for Larry Vibber came to their appointed end, and he has gone to his reward. Let’s all reflect on two things: First, thank God that in His providence, He gave Fowler, Colorado, such a proficient school superintendent for such a long period, and second, let’s all reflect on how short our lives are, and work at our callings with the same diligence that Larry Vibber did in his calling. A job well done…
