Is it bedtime yet?

Brady and Alex wishing a Happy Brithday to their MiMi.

Welcome back from a busy Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I do hope you are well as we begin another work week. It is Monday, April 25, 2011 and I bid you welcome. I spent Friday getting ready for Saturday since that was the Queen of our home and our heart's birthday. She pretty much did what she wanted to do. We started off with a special breakfast and ended the day with 17, (only 2 missing), of us gathered at the restaurant to celebrate and sing our love and appreciation for her. I heard her tell several folks that it was one of the best birthdays she had ever experienced. How do you like that? This was exactly what I had hoped would happen. On Sunday we experienced a wonderful time of fellowship as the two older adult classes took care of feeding breakfast to our little ones as they all gathered for a special Resurrection Day celebration. Our services were emotional as we recounted the price paid for our sins and the power our Lord demonstrated in His resurrection. It was a Day suited for worship of our great Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We then hurried home, grabbed a bite to eat, changed clothes, and drove across town to visit my brother. He was in a good mood and we enjoyed our time together. By 8:30 last evening I was fading fast, having used up just about all I had available in the resource column. But not to worry, I am up and at them, refueled and ready, but still thanking God for all that He allowed us to experience these past few days. Amen.

My daddy.

I also took advantage of being off on Friday to go to the Social Security Office and finish my application to be enrolled in Medicare. I had to show them my original of my birth certificate. I got there about 30 minutes early and was second in line, therefore, I was up at the window waiting on the technician about 10 minutes before the magic window was rolled up. You can count down to the exact second because those windows will not be moving until the little hand is precisely on the 9 and the big hand precisely on the 12. I know. I know. Those folks are probably doing the best they can but I just never went in for not being able to do anything at all until the buzzer goes off. I used to have a few folks that liked to operate like that in my organization and they soon learned that taking care of business came first, period, end of story. But to each his own. The lady I dealt with was pleasant enough and I was out of there within twenty minutes. While I sat before the shuttered window I was able to study my birth certificate closer than I had before. My dad passed away in January of 1954 but I could certainly see a little of me in that signature on that official birth certificate. I'm pretty sure there's no handwriting gene but the similarity was striking. I have to wonder just how much more of him I am carrying around in these increasingly weary bones of mine. I was 7 1/2 when he left us and he would have been 88 this coming Thursday. Because of the truth behind the resurrection, I will see him again some day. Happy Birthday Dad.

My Granddad.

The good news is that God always knows best and while I never got to know my dad that well, God did give me my mom's dad to help influence and mold my life. His birthday is also this week and I am not alone in pausing to thank God for this simple, ordinary man who made such a huge impact on so many lives. I don't know of anyone who knows me that doesn't also know my grandfather. Even if they just met me, it would not be long before they would hear some of his quotes as well as hearing about his life as a man of faith and family. I don't know how things would have been had my dad lived, but I do know that if I have anything much to offer in the way of being a man, my grandfather had something to do with it. Much of my work ethic, my determination, and a smidgen of my stubbornness can likely be traced back to the role model of my grandfather. He also was at the local meeting place where God's people gathered every service, rain, sleet, or snow, and always early. And you know who was often his sidekick. Okay. Enough said. At the end of the day, my daddy couldn't make me right with God by giving me life. My grandfather could only show me an example of faith. He could not believe for me. I stand before God as His very own beloved child only because of me having put my faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that my friend, is a sonship we all can possess and it matters not only for this time, but also forever and ever in eternity. Amen.                                    More later.