Fathers Day

             Fathers Day is kind of an afterthought to Mothers Day.  During the first part of the last century sputtering efforts were made at having a day for Fathers.  It wasn’t until 1966 that President Lyndon Johnson proclaimed the third
Sunday of June as Fathers Day.  In 1972 President Nixon signed into law the observance.

            Fathers don’t receive the same outpouring of praise or love that mothers receive.  But this is to be expected.  Looking back, it was mom that took care of the children.  She was there to cook their meals, wash and iron their clothes, kiss their “boo boos,” read to them, teach them, get them to school on time, help with homework, ferry them to a multitude of activities, and to counsel them in times of hurt, fears and stress.  Most of the time mom is the “rock” of their existence.

            To be fair, dads now are doing many of these things, in contrast to many dads in the past.  In previous generations fathers were there to provide the material things necessary and to exercise discipline when things got out of hand.  In those generations father’s left the “mothering” to their wives.  Even though dads are doing more of those things, it is still mom who does the primary nurturing.

            The tragedy of our generation is the multitude of single mothers raising children without the support of a husband.  I don’t have the statistics, but I am aware of the epidemic.  This is not to say they cannot do the job well.  They deserve a double dose of praise and thanksgiving.

            But if you have (or had) a father who stands beside you, provides for you, and is part of your growing years, be thankful unto God and express gratitude and honor to him on this Father’s Day.  And if your father has gone on to the next life, give thanks to God for him.  And, men, let the lord lead you to become a father figure to some child who does not have a father in his life, for whatever reason.

Grace and peace.

The Good Ole Summertime

     Theoretically, summer will not be here for another week. In reality, Summer is already here. We are in a drought and the daily temperatures have been in the upper 90s. Earlier we had the furnace on one week and the air conditioning the next week.
     I thank the Lord for air conditioning in our home and in our vehicles. We retreat to one or the other as often as we can. But I also marvel that we lived without it in former years. When I was a child, no one’s homes was air-conditioned, so kids spent as much time as possible outside. Some of my favorite memories are of the whole family sitting in lawn chairs in the back yard in the evenings and into he night At our house we had a whole house window fan which helped us sleep at night. But some nights that was not enough, so we sweated through the night.
     In those years the only place in town which had air conditioning was the movie theater. A big selling point for the movies was that air conditioning. And I can remember the shock and the relief of walking off he hot sidewalk into the dark air conditioned comfort.
     Not even our church, which was relatively large, had air conditioning. What we had were hand held "funeral home" fans. I remember many a Sunday sitting on a pew and fanning for all I was worth. Sweat would stick our Sunday dress shirts to the back of the wooden pew.
     Except for church on Sunday, we kids went barefoot all summer. I remember hopping along our way on sun heated pavement, especially asphalt. Often this was to the neighborhood city operated swimming pool, when we had the admission price to go. It was only four blocks from our house, but those could be a tortured four blocks, walking on grass when we could and pavement when we had to do so. When we went, we would spend three or four hours in the water.
We welcomed thunderstorms and played in the rain, ignoring the danger, if we were even aware of it.
     I’m sure it got as hot as it does now, but, looking back, we dealt with it better and enjoyed the good old summer time.

Grace and peace.

A Message From God?

     A couple of weeks ago we received in the office at Central Park Baptist Church (the church I am serving as pastor) a letter from a lady in Rome, Georgia. Her husband and sons were hunting turkeys, she says, when they spotted a white envelope which they brought home. The envelope was from a long past drive by the church, and "Early Debt Retirement Commitment." The tornadoes that swept through our neighborhoods picked up the envelope from someone’s home and bore it across the state line. This and many more stories illustrate the power of those storms. (I have an asphalt shingle from someone’s roof on top of my garage.)
     The lady reported that, being a strong believer in God, when she saw the envelope God touched her heart for Central Park Baptist Church. So she wrote a letter, enclosed the envelope and a check for twenty dollars for the debt retirement fund. This was all she could afford to send, she said. The church staff redirected her gift to the Tornado Relief Fund.
     She is just one of hundreds of thousands God has touched concerning the plight of the tornado victims all over the country. They may not see it as God’s initiative or God moving in their lives, but most of them do. And I certainly do. And I praise God for sending armies of volunteers to help the folks in our area as well as other areas. I trust He will continue to do so. It will that months to sort things out and years to rebuild. (Volunteers are still going to New Orleans to help the victims of hurricane Katrina.
     Tragedies will come, They are part of life in this world. But we are not alone. God sends His multitudes, or in some cases, his one or two, to stand beside us and to help us. Be open to Him sending you.

Grace and peace.