Whit-A-Knee!

Talking to my grandson Spencer the other day, he was telling us what the name of the baby was going to be. "Wes - a - Lee", Wesley. Well, surprise, the baby was born yesterday and it was Whitney! A beautiful baby girl! 4 lbs, 12 oz, and 18 inches long. Full head of hair and sooooo tiny, but so beautiful!

We went to see her and she was wide awake only a dozen hours after she was born.

Congratulations to Shane and Holly, and welcome Whitney Bernadette!

I wish I had a recording...

Years ago I worked in a machine shop. As I sat by my desk and listened in on job interviews, a man came in one day for a job....

It seems this man was a Hungarian trained as a machinist in Hungary. He was a very humble person, I could tell, as he answered questions by the foreman. "You'll like the working conditions here", the foreman said. "I don't have formal training in the United States" he said. "Oh, I'm sure you'll fit in after a few weeks. A machine is a machine regardless of where you're from" "I don't think I can do the job. I don't know the new ways of doing things." "Oh, I'm sure it will be all right. Just go to the clinic and get an exam and you can start tomorrow".

"I don't think I can" the man said. "Why not?" said the foreman.

"You don't want to hire a blind man do you?"

By that time I was rolling on the floor. It seems this man just needed to prove he was looking for a job, not to get one.

The foreman was so patient and sensitive to this man's needs, but didn't know what to say when he told him he was blind!

If I could have recorded the conversation, it would have been the funnies I've ever heard. For months we went around the shop saying "You don't want to hire a blind man do you?"

Walking is Easy...

...when the road is flat

The Heart of a Child

I was coming home from church today and got a call from Scott. Since I just talked to him the other day it was an unexpected surprise. "Just a minute, someone wants to talk to you..." There was a short pause then the sweetest voice came on... "hello papa!". Two words that can melt the heart of a grandpa. Lauren is growing up before my eyes. I'm so thankful for blogging as her mom, Susan, keeps us up to date on their growth. Anyways, my little grand daughter is growing up. I tried to get her to say something else, but that was enough.

When we got home, Sher said she didn't check the mail yesterday and came up with a card from 3 of my grand daughters telling me they love me!

As I think of how grand the Lord has made things, it warmed my heart to think of how He cares for us, even in little things. It's not a rocket ship ride to the moon, or an around the world tour, but a simple little, "hello papa", or an "I love you" that is worth millions to me. Actually, it's priceless.

Thank you Lord for reminding me once again of how you care for us, and thank you grand daughters for the little things that are priceless jewels in the treasure chest of life!

Pass it On... well at least most of it!

Every parent who has been a parent for some time realizes some things they've done to help their children grow up to be fine young adults. They also realize some things they haven't done so well with. As a young adult, we sometimes throw out everything we've learned and "do it our way". That's a slap in the face to our parents and really a slap in the face to God who gave us those parents. Regardless of how your parents were we are commanded to treat them with respect.

The Bible says in Exodus 20 verse 12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. " And yet, what if your parents do not honor God in the things they do? On the one hand God commands us to honor them, but on the other hand, we need to obey God rather than man as in Acts 5:28

(Acts 5:28 "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood."
29 Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! ")

What a dilemma! Realistically thought, most of us have parents that did something right, whether it be stayed married to one person, or had a good work ethic, etc.

The way I can reconcile this is to take the things that I've learned from my parents, the good things that coincide with God's teachings in the Scripture and continue to follow them. That brings honor to your parents name. The things that do not follow God's commands, well, we follow God. By doing what is right, we also bring honor to our parents because we try to bring honor to God.

Keep the things that are right (plant the seeds in their life) and build on it, I guess you'd say.

That is what I'd like my children to get out of my life. By doing what is right, they honor God and thereby honor me by following the good things my wife and I taught them. My hope is as they go through life, they build on the good parts and pass it on to their children.

The great thing is that as a Christian, even if we don't know why our parents did what they did, God has left a model in His Word, the Bible, for us to follow. It's a standard that surpasses all parents, cultures, economic stations in life, philosophies, etc. It's beyond the "gold standard" it is THE STANDARD of living... you can bet your life on it!