I’m not really a math person. I do pretty good at it in school, but I don’t like it that well. So an accounting job isn’t exactly my first choice. However, the man I met with today, Dudley Pyeatt, held an accounting job for 38 years before he retired! He knows his numbers, that’s for sure, and he also knows a lot about life too, and how to live true to yourself and to others.
Dudley was born in New Mexico, but he and his nine brothers and sisters moved to Texas when he was two. He lived there for 14 years, and began high school, but then he moved to Tennessee after his sophomore year. He liked it so well, he decided to attend Lee University, and became the first person in his family to graduate from college, receive his bachelor’s, and earn his master’s. How did he become the head accountant for Church of God, you wonder? Well, he was working for a company in town, working his way up the ladder, when the General Overseer for COG approached him and offered him a job. Dudley turned him down, because he thought he had a better job and future at his current company. After about half a year,the overseer re-offered him the job, with slightly better advantages. He said that he’d think and pray about it, and after talking to his wife and boss, he accepted.
Now, Dudley was a natural for the job. His entire family has always been good at math, and so it was only natural that he would be in a job that was full of numbers. As well as keeping track of all their income and expenses, Dudley also had to conduct an audit for their offices around the country. He audited the books for each office once a year, and there were about 35-40 offices total. Some states had a couple of offices, and some states had none, so it tended to even out. The annual audit was mainly a check to make sure that none of the head COG men were honestly or dishonestly taking more than their fair share. Although it seems strange and unlikely, some of the people working in the COG organization would occasionally take more money or gifts than the rules allowed. When Dudley would discover it during an audit, he would tell his superiors, and they would write that person a letter asking for the balance that was due.
Of course, some of the directors wouldn’t be too happy about returning large sums of money, but in the end they always did, and everyone was happy. Dudley was in that position for 38 years, like I said, and he enjoyed it a lot. He said that even though asking people to give up money can have its good and bad sides, the people working for COG more than make up for the bad days, and they’re the thing he misses the most about not working there anymore. He probably also misses being around all those numbers, too!
In his 38 years, Dudley Pyeatt attempted to retire twice. Both times, COG persuaded him to return. They offered him a better salary, more benefits, whatever it took to keep him there. But in 2000, he decided to retire for the third time, and this time it was final. He said goodbye, packed his bags, and left. He still looks back on those days with fondness; I can tell by the twinkle in his eye and the crinkle in his cheek when he talks about those days. But he doesn’t regret his decision to leave, because he just felt like that’s what the Lord wanted him to do at that time.
As our time together drew to a close, and dad showed up and whisked me away, I knew that I had just learned a valuable lesson on staying honest to yourself, your superiors, and God. I know that Dudley Pyeatt could have made a deal with one of the COG men and fudged the book. I know that he could also have sloughed off his job as an accountant and only done his work partway. But he didn’t. He did what was right and true, and that is why I’m proud to call him my friend. Even if he does love math.
