Parenting

I am traveling this week to visit my grandmother and my wife's grandmother in Tennessee. Both are not doing well and we needed to see them. A bonus on the trip is the company of my daughter (Allison) and our only grandchild, Mason. I could spend a lot of time writing about him.

But as we were eating this morning, my daughter had to feed Mason before she could eat. Memories flooded my soul as I thought about her own childhood and the times we had to feed her. Then a thought struck me - my daughter had become so unselfish. She didn't tell Mason that he had to wait to eat because she hadn't eaten. She didn't put him in the corner because he was fussy even though he was hungry (he's 8 months old). She feed him like a good parent should. Unselfishness. Maybe that is why God gave us families so that we could see, feel and understand how a parent feels and how we long to take care of our children. God is our Father and he wants that for us. He longs to take care of us, but so many times we feel too grown up to want or feel a need for his care. May we forever be like Mason - always in need of a parents care and love.

Sid

Warning

When I was a lad, my favorite show was Lost In Space. It was a show where the Robinson family's mission to outer space was sabotaged by the evil stowaway Dr. Smith. The show dealt with how the family handled adversity, many times created by Smith and forgiveness for Dr. Smith. One of the things that I remember most in each episode was the robot's parental instincts for Will. When danger approached, the robot would wave his arms and shout, "danger, danger, Will Robinson."

That reminded me of the word of God. There are so many warnings about lust, pride, power, selfishness and . . . (well, the list could go on forever), that I believe we don't take the warnings seriously. Just think about the alarm that goes off at Wal-Mart identifying that an item either was not paid for or the clerk has not removed the initiating device. How many of you look up when the alarm goes off? If you are like me, none of you do. How many of us run to the rescue of a car alarm? We hear it all the time and have been numbed to it.

God's word is warning us. Let us heed his word, because our situation is not a fictitious television show, but reality. Heed the warnings. Serve the Master. Live and forgive.

Sid

Handicapped

Today I was fortunate enough to hear a great soldier for the cause of Christ. I attended the Governor's Prayer Breakfast in Indianapolis this morning. Most Americans are familiar with Gen. George Patton, the hero of WW II's Battle of the Bulge, but unaware that this illustrious soldier's career ended tragically — the victim of a freak car accident that broke his neck and left him a quadriplegic. Fewer still know of another soldier — a soldier in the faith — who today deals with his own physical paralysis. His name is Dick Woodward, pastor/founder of the Mini Bible College radio program, a survey of the Bible now translated into 15 languages. Woodward, crippled by a spinal cord disease since 1982, is confined to his bed for 20 hours a day and moved only by the help of a hoist operated by his wife, Virginia. Unlike Patton, however, it has not stopped him from doing more than most men hope to do in a lifetime.

We were able to hear him from his home via the marvels of technology. He told of his ministry and told of his disease. We listened as he told us about how God must increase and he must decrease. We heard this from a man that showed such spiritual insight. He reminded me that I am handicapped too, but I just don't see it.

God bless his ministry. May God help us to see our handicaps and rely on Him for our life.

Sid

Discipleship Directions

There is a sign about 4 miles east of Salem that tells people coming into town where McDonald's is located. It simply says - "turn left at light, then 8 blocks." I admit that it isn't very metropolitan, but we aren't. What caught my eye was that I started visualizing the trip that someone would have to make to get to McDonald's. There was no mention of the numerous roads between the sign and the traffic light. There was no mention of the businesses that were located at the light to assist the potential customer. There was no mention of having to go around the courthouse and the square. There was no mention of having to cross the railroad tracks. There was no mention about Papa John's pizza, Wendy's, KFC, Peking restaurant, Taco Bell or Pizza Hut. It seemed to me that McDonald's assumed that if you wanted to get to there place, you were not too concerned about what it was going to take and even the temptations to stop somewhere else enroute. They assumed that you were committed to getting to McDonald's.

Maybe that is what Jesus had in mind when he said that to be his disciple meant that you had to carry a cross. He didn't discuss all of the hardships. He didn't talk about all the temptations to put it down. He didn't even give all the obstacles that one would face in carry it. He assumed that the disciple (me and you) really wanted to follow him and he just gave us those simple, but unbelievably difficult words, "carry your cross."

May we be faithful.

Sid

Eating at the B & W

When I was a boy my grandparents (mother's side) would periodically take us to Nashville, TN. It was a time before malls, as downtown Nashville had several large department stores and several movie theaters. The women would go to Cain-Sloan and Harvey's (department stores) to shop and the men, even though I was under ten I was included, would go to a movie. My grandfather owned a theater in Middle Tennessee and would view perspective movies to bring to his theater. But before the group would split up, we would eat at the B & W Cafeteria off of Church Street in Nashville. It was heaven for a young lad. The cafeteria offered all kinds of entrees and the trimmings. The catch was that every bowl and plate had a price. My eyes were always bigger than my stomach.

Unfortunately, many today view church like that old cafeteria. The mentality is that we get to pick and choose what we want to do and when we do it. Yes, I understand the "talent" mentality, but I believe we have given the church an excuse to not get involved. Where is sacrifice? Where is service? Where is discipline?

I loved the old B & W Cafeteria, but that was for eating, not for serving God.

Getting Yourself In A Pickle

I was watching my favorite show, The Andy Griffith Show, and it was one of my favorite episodes. It is the episode about Aunt Bee's pickles. The plot deals with the kerosene-tasting pickles that Aunt Bee makes. The problem begins when Andy and Barney try not hurt her feelings by telling her how bad her pickles really are. So they replace them with store-bought ones enjoying each bite of the replacement pickles. Trouble arrives when Aunt Bee concludes that the boys love those pickles so she not only makes another batch, but enters the new batch in the local fair. Thus the dilemma begins. They can't let Aunt Bee submit store bought pickles, but that means they have to eat all of the pickles before the fair. What a pickle!

I have often struggled with this. Do you act like some people that just lay it out on the line how they feel and let the chips fall where they may? Or do you "protect them" by not being totally honest?

I don't know. I do know that it is wrong to lie. I do know that you are to treat people with love. Sometimes that seems to create a tension that is hard to discern. Maybe that is where prayer comes in. I do know that when I have prayed, things have always worked out better. So, instead of getting yourself in a pickle, pray. When we do, God will be proud!

Sid