Day 55

 

Mother's Day

 

Give her the reward that she has earned and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

 

Proverbs 31:31

 

For some men the only redeeming quality they seem to have ever had is their ability to pick a good wife. I am always amazed when some sorry character manages to convince some sainted woman to marry him. I was 33 years old before I ever got married, and I had many a bachelor friend who married above his market value. It used to frustrate me to no end when a nice Christian girl gave me the "I love you like a brother" speech, and then she would marry some goofball a year later. (Of course, some did way better than me.)

I had friends who were worried that I would never get married. A standard gift for me at Christmas time or for birthdays was cologne.  People seemed to think I needed all the help I could get. If smelling good was the key to winning a girl's heart, I could have had a harem. Why at any time I could have smelled like a brute, a canoe, a pair of chaps or a karate expert. I could have smelled like old spice, English leather. I could have smelled like Halston, Chanel or even Zorro. I had colognes, aftershaves, deodorants, musk and soaps on ropes. At one time I had over 30 bottles of cologne. To my knowledge none of it did me any good because all the soap on a rope never helped me lasso a wife.

I don't know what made my wife say "yes" when I proposed. She is normally very intelligent, a graduate of Rice University, the "Harvard of the South." I am grateful for her momentary lapse in judgment. She is a good wife, a good mother and a good person.

Years ago my son, Ethan and I brought her some flowers for Mother's Day. It was hardly a suitable reward for that she had done for us but if we had got her chocolates we would have been the ones to eat them. Let me tell you what she did with her flowers.

First she took a couple of flowers out of her arrangement  and put them in a little vase that was filled with water that had food coloring added to it. She did this science experiment for Ethan so that he could see the flowers change color and learn how plants grow.

Most of the rest of the flowers were gone by the end of Mother's Day. They were given to children at the church to give to their mothers. The flowers she had earned she freely gave as a gift.

After she had given them away she asked me if I minded. I didn't, of course. I thought what a great illustration of why we have Mother's Day. It is because our mothers give, often sacrificially. They put their joy second to that of their families.

One of the great things about my wonderful wife Joanne is that she didn't marry me because of my cologne. She is allergic to the stuff. It is a real ego boost to know that she didn't fall for the greatest cologne collection east of the Pecos; she fell for me.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Proverbs 31:10-31

 

• Is it easy to find a good wife?
• What does a good wife do for her husband?
• What does a good wife do for others?

 

Day 54

 

Daddy

 

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."

 

Romans 8:15

 

 

My son has always been the curious sort. He likes to know why people do certain things and how things work. When he was 4 years old he liked doing science experiments (he grew out of it by the time he could get school credit for it). Being just a little kid his science experiments were sometimes just playing in water but at other times it was real science.

 

One night he said he wanted to show me a science experiment with eggs. He had evidently heard something on TV about how eggs would sink in regular water and float in salt water. So, we proceeded with the experiment.

 

We put an egg in a clear glass of water and it sank, just like it was supposed to. Then we got a glass of warm salty water. (The warmth helps the salt dissolve I think). When we got the water good and salty we dropped an egg in it and sure enough it floated.

 

I was clueless as to why this happened so my wife explained this to me and Ethan. Evidently the salt makes the water denser so that it actually becomes heavier than the egg, so the egg floats. My 4 year old understood this explanation but I had to take it by faith. We put the eggs up but not wanting to let things go to waste I decided to gargle the salt water. I'm told gargling with salt water is good for your gums (which is something else I take by faith).

 

To make water dense enough to float an egg it has to be very salty. So when I gargled with it I made a horrible face and spit it out and quickly rinsed my mouth out with fresh water.

 

My son thought my funny face and the spewing out of the salt water was hilarious. He started laughing and then paid me the ultimate compliment a father can get. He said, "Daddy, of all the daddies in the world, you're the daddiest." I'm not sure what it meant but I guarantee you I was sure proud to be it.

 

In the Bible several names are given God. The name used most often in the New Testament is "Father." In this day and time with so many dead beat, sorry, no account dads, to hear that God is our Father doesn't carry the impact it should. God is our Father and we are his children and the Bible tells us the relationship can be a close intimate one. Paul tells us we can call God, "Abba." "Abba" is Aramaic for "Daddy." It is the name Jesus used when he cried out in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before he was crucified. Loosely translated he said, "Daddy don't let this happen to me, but not what I want Dad, what you want."

 

God wants to be your dad. He wants to have a close personal relationship with you. He wants you to come to him and say, "Daddy, of all the daddies in the world, you're the daddiest."

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Galatians 4:6-7

 

• Because we are God's children what does he do?
• What is the difference between being God's slave and his son?
• What do we, as children, stand to inherit? And how do we inherit it?

 

Day 53

 

The First Day of School

 

These commands I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk to them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

 

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

 

On the day my son started school I didn't have to worry about which bus route he was on. He was so excited he needed to register a flight plan with the F.A.A. I had never seen anyone so eager to start  kindergarten. I thought about taking him to have a genetic blood test to see if he was really mine. Maybe babies got switched at the hospital and some very intellectual parents were wondering why their son would rather stay at home and gaze into a kaleidoscope.

 

As excited as he was I could tell he had some fears as well. As much as we had told him about school it was still a great unknown for him. But the truth was it was I who was the most apprehensive as he started school.

 

I told my wife, "Now we will get to find out if we have done a good job or not." I wondered how he would handle peer pressure. At home he was never pressured to do anything wrong, not that he didn't manage to do it on his own. At home he could grow and mature at his own pace. At school there would be older kids and enticements that age and maturity had to offer. He was an only child and had been the center of attention from the time of his birth when newspapers across the country told the story of the "miracle baby." I wondered if he would learn to get along in a universe he was not the center of.

 

We prayed before he went to school. We prayed for him that he would have a good day. We prayed for his teacher. No one knew better than I how much his teacher  would need our prayers. My son could talk to you until your ears bled.

 

I was not real concerned about academics. He was very bright and knew how to read before he went to school. I knew he would do well. My wife was complaining that in a few years he would be taller than her. I told her, "What are you worried about. In a few years he will be smarter than me." He would wake up in the morning and the first thing out of his mouth was some new fact he had learned. He would open his eyes and say, "Hi Dad. Did you know panda bears aren't really bears? If I was a big eagle I would be strong enough to hold different things in each talon." He was a human Discovery Channel.

 

It was hard for me to believe he was in school. It seemed like it was just a few days before that I was amazed at his abilities when he made gurgling sounds and blew spit bubbles while shaking his rattle. I could not help but think how proud my first wife (who died when he was a 1 year old) would be of him. And I couldn't help but be thankful for the amazing job that my wife Jo had done with him. They had both been selfless when it came to him: The first risking her life that he might be born; the second giving up her freedom to be his mother.

 

Even though I had a lot of concerns about him going to school I was confident he would be okay. You see, I knew what motivated my son. I knew that more than anything he wanted to please his dad, to make me proud. He gave me that awesome power over him. I pray I have used it wisely.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9

 

• How deeply committed are we to be to the command of God if we expect our children to be committed to them?
• How diligent are we to be in letting our kids know what God expects of them?
• Whose responsibility is it to teach your child the ways of God?

 

Day 52

 

Tossing Cookies # 2

 

So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot or cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

 

Revelation 3:16

 

 

When I started dating after my first wife died I was looking for someone not just for me but for my 3 year old son as well. I had to make sure that a person was not only up to the task of being my wife (which is a difficult job in itself) but also up to the task of being a mother. All women were not up to that task.

One young lady was very nice and we hit it off well enough. Then on Ethan's third birthday I had some friends over and she brought Ethan a baseball bat that was sized for an 8 year old and a big floor puzzle that I had difficulty putting together. She clearly didn't know a lot about kids (but I guess to be fair I suppose she could have learned).

Jo and I had started dating and she came over to the house to spend the afternoon. We had a supper of hot dogs and macaroni and cheese (okay, so I'm not a gourmet chef) and we played with Ethan until time to put him to bed. He wasn't in bed long before I heard him in his room calling for me. I rushed in to find that he was sick and had thrown up in his bed. Jo came in and offered to help clean up but I told her, "No, that's not your job. He's my son, I'll clean up the mess. If you want to help you can hold him while I clean up the mess and get fresh sheets for his bed."

So, she sat on the floor holding Ethan in her lap while I cleaned up. I had just finished cleaning up the mess and was putting sheets on the bed when I heard Ethan barfing all over Jo. It was gross and not exactly the best way to make a good impression on someone you are dating. But Jo was not fazed and it was then that I knew I had a keeper. Jo and I got married 6 months later.

God tells the church at Laodicea that because they are lukewarm that he wants to spit them out of his mouth. It is not a pleasant picture and not a pleasant thought to think that God feels that way about us. Why does God dislike lukewarm Christians so much he wants to toss his cookies? I think that if you are cold or indifferent toward Christ you are not a bad witness because people just don't associate you with Jesus. If you are lukewarm you claim Christ but show no change in your life and are a bad witness and I think that is what God finds so distasteful. So, what is your thermostat set on?

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Revelation 3:14-22

 

• What was the church at Laodicea's main problem?
• Where the people at Laodicea as self sufficient as they thought they were?
• What does it mean to overcome? And overcome what?