A Late Father's Day Thought

I know, I know, the moment's passed. We had the opportunity to celebrate Father's Day Sunday, and I hope that you enjoyed your day as much as I enjoyed mine. Dads are special people (I'm biased, I know) and I know that I've been blessed with a great one. Dads are never more special than when you are five years old. At that point, they carry near-mythic powers. I heard this account of a conversation between a group of five year-olds that I believe is instructive on the subject.

"Three five year old boys were discussing which one of their dads was the smartest. The first little boy told his friends, 'My Dad is so smart, he writes a few words on a scrap of paper, calls it a poem, and they give him $100 for it.' Not to be outdone, the second little boy said, 'Oh yeah! My Dad is so smart, he writes a few words on a scrap of paper, calls it a song, and they give him $1,000 for it.' Finally, the pastor's son spoke up: 'My Dad's smarter than anyone of your dads. He writes a few words on a scrap of paper, calls it a sermon, and it takes four guys to take up all the money!'"

In my mind's eye, my Dad will always be 27. He's not anymore, and when I look at him, I can tell it. But when I think of him, he's always a young guy with dark hair (hair! and dark...)who has just come home from another day of hard work at the shipyard. My kids see him at work today and think he gets dirty. I remember when he came home so nasty you could only see the whites of his eyes. I wanted to play baseball, but my total lack of hand-eye coordination made it difficult. I was never the worst kid on the team, but I was never far off either. Regardless of my lack of skill, he was patient, going out in the backyard to practice with me as often as we had the opportunity. I never became a good baseball player (list this as reason #4,312 for why I am a pastor), but I did get better. It's important that every young boy be able to throw, catch, and hit well enough to not wear the dreaded "swings like a girl" label. I managed to avoid that, and it's all thanks to dear old Dad.

Over the years, he remained patient with me. Whether it was at home or at work, he did his best to teach me the manly arts. Some took, some did not. I'd like to think that the area where the lessons were best learned regard the art of the grill (an article for a later date). While I'm not all that handy, nor particularly proficient at anything requiring much skill, I can do enough to get by. Knowing my skill base, the fact that I reached this point at all should be a great testimony to Dad's patient instructions.

I still count on him. He's still patient. Slowly but surely, I'm learning new things. I'm staring down the barrel of 30 and I have three kids of my own. My Dad's still there for me. And though I've aged and he has too, I still see him as the same young man who filled his son's life with so much wonder. If I'm able to inspire in my children half of what he's inspired in me, I'll be able to look back on this life and say that my job was well done. Here's to you, Dad. Enjoy (a few days late) your day.

I think I'm going to find my boy and go play catch. Try not to be too impressed by my display of athleticism, as you take the drive down N. Wintzell.

VBS Time

If, like many of my readers, you grew up in a small town in Alabama (or really, most anywhere across the region) you probably had the opportunity to participate in one of the Summer's great traditions: Vacation Bible School. We're gearing up for our own VBS here on N. Wintzell, and I'm looking forward to it. If you have children or grandchildren in Kindergarten-6th grade, we'd love to have them come out and participate June 20th-24th from 8:30-11:30am. It'll be a good time!

Now that the commercial is out of the way, a few observations on VBS:

1) At a real VBS, you march in, say pledges, and learn the motto and memory verse for the week. The real key to all of this is the march. My dear Aunt Helen insured that each morning's opening assembly began with a processional into the church from outside. I'm not sure exactly why we have a processional, but we do. Maybe it's because everybody looks forward to the chance to participate in a parade? Regardless, standing around outside in the morning sauna in south Alabama is an important character-building experience that every child should participate in.

2) You can make almost anything with popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners. Over the course of my years as a student at VBS, we made things out of pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks that would have put MacGyver to shame. This is especially important given the fact that I may have been the worst craft-maker in the history of VBS. My poor parents would walk into my classroom each year on parent night to "see what I had made" at VBS this year. Thank God that they always smiled and told me it was great regardless of how poorly I had done. Leave me to memorize Bible verses and answer questions, thanks. I did always wonder, however, what in the world kind of pipes you cleaned with those pipe cleaners and who got to eat all of those popsicles?

3) Snack time was always a real highlight of VBS for me (Surprise!). But the greatest year of VBS I can remember was the year that we rented a sno-cone machine. Unlimited (ok, limited to one) sno-cones right there at my finger tips each and every day... It was heavenly. No begging to stop at a sno-cone shop, I could just go to VBS each day (not that I really had all that much choice in the matter) and when snack time came around I could enjoy my own icy treat. Other favorite snack options include cookies and kool-aid.

4) VBS was also a great opportunity to play with kids that I knew from school and wouldn't otherwise see all summer. There were always lots of kids who came to VBS that didn't usually attend our church and it was a fun time.

5) For one week each summer, a lot of fantastic adults poured out their love for Jesus into my life. Working with kids isn't easy, and at times it can be downright frustrating and disappointing. In the midst of all that, I got to experience the care and affection of good men and women who wanted me to know Jesus the same way that they did. Those weeks of VBS helped shape me and mold me. Now, I get the opportunity to return that investment, as I serve some of those same folks as their pastor. (Be careful what you teach those kids and VBS, they may preach it from your pulpit one day!)

If you're one of those faithful volunteers, thanks for what you do. If you're not, you should be! If you've got kids, grandkids, or great-grandkids, get them out to VBS at your church this summer. In the meantime, I'd really like one of those sno-cones, here on N. Wintzell.