In preparing my Sunday School Lesson for this morning, I decided to do an ice breaker question to start off. I thought it might be a good subject for the blog today as well.
"What is one thing you are thankful your father taught you?"
My answer is that that I am thankful my father taught me that life must go on. That no matter what the circumstances are, how tough life is, or how big the obstacles are that you are facing, you must get up every morning and do life. Yes it's going to be tough, but it is your responsibility to go get up & participate in life, do your best and trust God to get you through it.
I'm not sure that dad even realized he taught me that, but he did and I thank him for it. Happy Father's day Dad! I love you. Eric
3 comments:
I am writing this from a Hampton Inn in Hazleton, PA, with an absolutely gorgeous view of the Allegheny Mountains and a huge valley. Will post more about our trip when we get home tomorrow.
But here's what my dad probably doesn't know he taught me: One year we were having a yard sale, and a poor-looking couple bought an old but still working refrigerator we had for sale. Several hours later they were back saying it did not work. (Probably because they had laid it on its back in the truck - have read that that messes up the condenser.) They were obviously in distress because the $50 or whatever we charged was huge $$ for them. Well, we all know that yard sale purchases are final. Dad told them that, and they were still pretty unhappy. Dad thought about it a minute, and said "If you will take it to the dump, I will give you your money back," and he peeled off $50 from our yard sale proceeds and gave it to them. They were stunned even though they were grateful.
And from that my dad taught me to treat people right and to consider the circumstances before the profits. I thank him for that lesson.
Funny you would tell that story because I have another yard sale story from Dad that taught me a several lessons. Quite late in the afternoon of our yard sale an older man pulled up in a bright yellow truck and bought several pairs of Dad's pants for $2 each. About 15 minutes after he left Dad got all disgusted and said he forgot to take a pair of pants out of the stack because the zipper was broken and he didn't want someone to pay for a broken zipper. He said if God ever brought that man across his path, he'd give the man his money back.
Less than a week later Dad and I were driving back to Decatur from Huntsville and Dad saw this man in his distinctive yellow truck. Dad flagged this man down, and on the side of the road by the Racetrac gas station, Dad explained the situation and gave the money back.
As a young college student I learned about prayer and integrity.
From Dad I've learned generosity as well. I've heard him several times say to add a few more dollars to the tip. In a day you'll never know the difference but a good tip can make a difference for the server's day.
Eric, nice post! You pretty much described Dad in a nutshell. I think from my dad I learned about grace..how to take the short end and how to treat people well. I also was amazed at how he handled himself when he started to get sick. He showed a lot of grace accepting a situation he could not control. Hope everyone had a nice day.
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