Fathers Day 2013
I have had the good fortune to live every day of my life knowing that I have an earthly father who I can count on. I do not recall a single moment when he did not act in my best interest, always above his own. If this required a sacrifice, he made it.
I realize that it is not that way in everyone’s life and I feel fortunate that God chose to bless me in this way.
Tonight as I was putting the fin...ishing touches on tomorrows worship service, I couldn’t help but remember what Saturday nights were like when I was growing up.
My father had a Saturday night ritual which at the time seemed peculiar. Each week he would go to his closet and return with an old black shoe shine box, full of polish, brushes, and several old socks. My guess is that the box probably belonged to his father at some point.
He would gather my brother and I and the three of us would sit together in the living room and shine our shoes. After a while there was an inspection. Sometimes I failed the inspection and had to sit back down and do some more shining. Sometimes, after I had made my best effort, my father would end up putting the finishing touch on my shoes. When it was all said and done, our shoes were ready for church the following day. We were eventually dismissed to go do whatever other activity two boys did on Saturday night in the 1960’s.
To be honest, at the time, I thought the man must be crazy. My shoes looked fine to me. They kept feet in and rocks out. What was the big deal? And with all that shoe polish, by the time they wore out looked to be two sizes bigger than they were on the day he bought them for me. It was like putting monster truck tires on a tricycle.
But I have since come to know that there was more going on there than a shoe shine on those Saturday nights. You see, instead of going out drinking or spending money on himself, or living foolishly, my father chose to get the three of us together on a weekly basis to learn a little bit about things such as stewardship, respect, and completing a task, no matter how mundane it seems to be. I don’t know what we talked about but the point is, we talked. It wasn’t really about a pair of shoes at all.
The number of times and reasons when I have challenged my father over the years are many. But I have never had an occasion where it even crossed my mind to challenge or doubt his ethics and his love for me. For this I will always be grateful and I will always regret the times that I did not show the respect that he has earned.
I wear a bigger shoe than I did back then but I doubt I’ll ever be big enough to fill his.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
I realize that it is not that way in everyone’s life and I feel fortunate that God chose to bless me in this way.
Tonight as I was putting the fin...ishing touches on tomorrows worship service, I couldn’t help but remember what Saturday nights were like when I was growing up.
My father had a Saturday night ritual which at the time seemed peculiar. Each week he would go to his closet and return with an old black shoe shine box, full of polish, brushes, and several old socks. My guess is that the box probably belonged to his father at some point.
He would gather my brother and I and the three of us would sit together in the living room and shine our shoes. After a while there was an inspection. Sometimes I failed the inspection and had to sit back down and do some more shining. Sometimes, after I had made my best effort, my father would end up putting the finishing touch on my shoes. When it was all said and done, our shoes were ready for church the following day. We were eventually dismissed to go do whatever other activity two boys did on Saturday night in the 1960’s.
To be honest, at the time, I thought the man must be crazy. My shoes looked fine to me. They kept feet in and rocks out. What was the big deal? And with all that shoe polish, by the time they wore out looked to be two sizes bigger than they were on the day he bought them for me. It was like putting monster truck tires on a tricycle.
But I have since come to know that there was more going on there than a shoe shine on those Saturday nights. You see, instead of going out drinking or spending money on himself, or living foolishly, my father chose to get the three of us together on a weekly basis to learn a little bit about things such as stewardship, respect, and completing a task, no matter how mundane it seems to be. I don’t know what we talked about but the point is, we talked. It wasn’t really about a pair of shoes at all.
The number of times and reasons when I have challenged my father over the years are many. But I have never had an occasion where it even crossed my mind to challenge or doubt his ethics and his love for me. For this I will always be grateful and I will always regret the times that I did not show the respect that he has earned.
I wear a bigger shoe than I did back then but I doubt I’ll ever be big enough to fill his.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Thank You for sharing. I pray you have a Happy Father's Day every day. May God bless you and your family abundantly ALWAYS.
ReplyDeleteThank You for sharing. I pray you have a Happy Father's Day every day. May God bless you and your family abundantly ALWAYS.
ReplyDelete