Family
-
Long Shadows
I have been spending a lot of time lately watching the results of past actions, decisions, and events. When your baby baby (the youngest), approaches high school graduation, there is a lot of time spent reflecting on all of her accomplishments and shenanigans. Pictures are unearthed that you may not have seen for years to prepare for a slideshow. Those pictures evoke memories of all sorts of emotions and, with the benefit of hindsight, you can see how they helped shape the person your child has become. Some of the foreshadowing is not surprising. Having always been bright and bubbly with a flair for the dramatic, it is no surprise…
-
She Has Done Well
Forgive me for being very personal today, but the Bible teaches that we are to give honor to whom it is due, and that honor is certainly due to Leah. In just a couple of days, she will no longer be “homeschooling mom Leah.” With Turner graduating on Friday, Leah has now finished that chapter of her life and, as the title of this post says, she has done well. Now, she doesn’t believe she has done well. She sees the things she didn’t do. She sees where our kids still fall short at times. She sees holes in their education or blunders they have made and she takes that…
-
A Candidate for the World’s Most Clueless Husband (and a Rebuttal)
As Mothers Day approaches, I am reminded of a conversation I had with a lady during which she mentioned her late father-in-law. Somehow the subject of retirement came up. During that part of the conversation, she related to me something he had told his wife when he retired. The following may not be a word-for-word quote, but it is pretty close: Now, I’ll get to do what you’ve been doing all these years I’ve been working – absolutely nothing. My first reaction (which I think I might have actually said aloud) was that surely no man could be that clueless. Actually “clueless” might be the polite version of what I…
-
Property Poor Church Members
I recently came across an article in a religious periodical published in 1918. The title of that article was the same as the title for this post. The article mentions a man who served as an elder in a local congregation who owned a great deal of property. According to a statement he made, the value of his property was $160,000. His weekly contribution to the local congregation of which he was a member was seventy-five cents! When this man was encouraged to increase his contribution, he said that he could not do that because he was “property poor.” He even claimed that his financial “stress” made it necessary for…
-
The Future of the Church
You guessed it! I have just spent this last weekend with about 10,000 other people at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville for the Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes Convention. And what a busy (and crowded) weekend it was! There were all kinds of schedules to remember, preparations to be made, outfits to be selected, practices for events, and the list goes on and on. It was a little chaotic and tiring, but at the same time it was just wonderful! Gathering with so many other Christians for the purpose of spiritual growth and encouraging that growth can only be described as wonderful. Since our congregation actually does the year-round program, so many…
-
Thank You Lads to Leaders
Other than when Covid canceled the Lads to Leaders convention in 2020, I have attended every convention since 2001. The one that will occur this weekend, though, will be different in a way. It’s my last time to attend as a parent. Now, I went before we had kids. Leah and I helped the group from 9th Avenue before Mary Carol was even born. But since the kids were old enough to do anything, they’ve been there (Mary Carol even got one award before she could read!). We’ve watched our kids grow and mature. We’ve dealt with losing a tooth just minutes before speech time. We’ve had the kid getting…
-
“Martha, Martha”…and Parenting
Recently at Central, I have used the account of Martha and Mary in a couple of sermons. The imagery of that text is so relatable. Mary is sitting and listening to Jesus, while Martha is just all over the place, but doing something good. Martha is (at least) frustrated with her sister and even demands that Jesus make her do her part. Jesus, though, begins his response with “Martha, Martha.” He further tells her that she is distracted, basically because her mind is here and there. Then our Lord adds that Mary chose what was good, the “one thing” that “is necessary.” With that, Jesus added this eternal insight: “which…
-
The Red Lemon (#2)
During the recent lectureship at Freed-Hardeman University, our family carved out a little time between sessions to celebrate the twenty-fourth birthday of our oldest grandson. I was totally unaware of the significance of the location of our little party until a friend and brother in Christ mentioned it in a comment on the picture I posted on Facebook. When he saw the background of the picture, it reminded him of one of our family’s “inside jokes” which we have shared with others. What follows below is a version of something that I wrote for A Legacy of Faith on our grandson’s seventeenth birthday. This version has been edited quite a bit,…
-
It’s That Time of Year
It seems as if Spring has sprung! What a blessing it is to see the green grass, the blooming trees, and the beautiful flowers that wake up in this season. I love all of the seasons, but Spring is one of my favorites. So many beautiful things come along with Spring and Summer. We can open our windows and let the fresh air in. We can get outside and enjoy some physical activities. We can shed those heavy winter coats and boots. We can also shed our heavy clothes. And we can put on… What exactly will be put on during these warm months ahead of us? For many people, the…
-
18 (or, “On Raising Adults”)
My post this week just happens to coincide with a special day in the life of a special young man. Today, my son turns 18. That means that both of our kids are now legally adults. I guess that empty nest really is drawing near. Turner is a delight. Is he perfect? No. We still have things to work on. But it has been nothing short of impressive to watch him mature and to work on some of his shortcomings himself. He has a heart for doing what is right, and that is all I can ask for. When Mary Carol turned 18 something struck me, and it has struck…
