WHAT A GREAT KID!

Tim had gone to sleep at his regular time last night.  He had made sure that all the activities of the day had been put away, his room was clean and all was in its proper place so that when he got up in the morning he would be ready to start a new day. 

He had slept well and as he awoke he lay still for just a moment or two.  His eyes moved but his body reminded in the “I’m still asleep” position.  He took in the pale light shining through his window.  He loved that his window faced the East and as the son peaked its flaming head above the horizon it brought light into his room. 

He stepped out of bed and went about the process of getting ready to go downstairs.  With his cloths on and his face washed and his teeth brushed and his bed made, he proceeded down the stairs.  He was sure that in the kitchen he would see his mom, busily making breakfast for him and his dad.  He could smell the breakfast aromas drifting down the hallway.  Most likely, his dad would be sitting at the table drinking his coffee and thumbing through the morning paper.  They would greet him with a smile and a big hug.  They would make him feel loved, and welcome to be there with them.

Tim rounded the corner and sure enough all was as he had expected.  He responded to their greetings, gave a big hug in return and sat down beside his father at the table.

They shared their morning meal and their morning plans.  They listened as each one told of their hopes, plans and work that was to be done today.  There was no radio, TV or computer to jockey for their attention.  All interruptions were removed.   

The conversation quieted and Tim got in a meditative mood for a moment. 

“Dad?”

“Yes son, what is it”?

“Dad, I just wanted you to know how much I love you”. Tim’s words were honest and straight-forward. 

“Oh, Tim, I love you too”.  His dad said.

“And Dad, I just want to do the things that you want me to do today.  Because I want you to be proud of me and I want to be just like you.”

Dad’s heart just leaped within his chest.  His son had ways of making him so very happy. What more could he want than a child who loved him, wanted to please him and wanted to be like him?  He moved from his chair and held Tim in his arms and hugged him tightly. He realized at that moment that he would do anything for his child.

Wouldn’t you like to have a child like that?

 

 

 

So would God.

PLAYING TO THE CROWD

Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Jackson, Mississippi to attend a training class for members of the Salvation Army advisory committee.  It was a great learning experience for me.  Over the last 45 years of emergency service I have learned to love and appreciate the work that the "Army" does in emergencies and disasters.  But the Salvation Army is so much more than disaster work. 

Their "officers" are the pastors of the churches (corps) and their members are the soldiers.  Their motto goes something like this:  "To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost and help the needy without discrimination".  I like that. Simple, straight forward. 

While there in Jackson I had the opportunity to sit under the teaching of several Army speakers.  One that I really appreciated was a delightful lady named (Major) Susan Brown.  Mrs. Brown came here from England over 20 years ago and still has that mesmerizing British accent that I love.  I told her, "If I could not understand a single word you said, I could still sit and listen to you speak all day". 

Several speakers told of the success of the Army.  They shared facts like:  (1) 83 cents out of every dollar that is given to the Salvation Army goes directly to help the needy. (2) For every dollar spent in advertising the Army earns $13 dollars. Those are some pretty good stats. There was a little bit of "yeah us" going on until, until Major Brown got up to give here little 10 minute devotion on Friday morning. 

It's good to be successful she said.  It is wonderful to receive the accolades of the community and our fellow workers, but, she said, "we must play for an audience of one". 

I sat there and thought about that statement.  Who do I play for?  Who do I work for?  Why do I do what I do?  I will admit that many times I play to the crowd.  If I think it will please others, if it will make me look good to them, I'll do it. As our Pastor Lyle Geist says, our lives are driven by the opinions of others. 

Sometimes I play for myself.  If it makes me feels good, if it taste good, if it looks good to me, then I'll do it. My life is driven by my wants and desires.

But Major Brown says, play for the One that matters. 

Work for one boss.  Please one master. 

If I would plan my day around His schedule, if I would say my words for His ears, if my songs were sang to Him and not to the audience, if my prayers were to Him and not words to please the crowd, if I played to the audience of THE ONE and pleased Him, then  I will arrive at the end of my journey I will hear the applause of Heaven and a single voice from the throne saying "Well done, my good and faithful servant". 

BUCKET LIST

I bet you have one.  You may not call it that, you may not even realize it, but you've got one.  A list of things you would like to do before you "kick the bucket".  Well, that's your bucket list. 

I don't have an official one.  I don't have one in writing.  But there have been things that I have wanted to do before I die, I've done many of them, but there are still a few items on the list that I haven't quite gotten around to yet. But my wife.....you know about my wife don't you?

My wife is the kind of person that if she knows I want something....she will do her best to make it happen.  And that's the way this story starts. 

I have always loved musicals.  From the days of Danny Kay, Doris Day and Pat Boone I have loved musicals.  If I would have been born with singing skills, and acting skills and talent....I would have wanted to be in a musical.  I have always wanted to see a Broadway musical.

So when I heard that the musical about the 60's singing group, The Four Seasons, was coming to Birmingham, I got online and tried to find tickets.  There were a couple of problems. 

• The tickets were costly
• I am cheep

So, I forgot about it.  I'll watch it if it comes on T.V.

But not my wife.  She didn't forget about it and for my 62 birthday she bought us tickets to the Broadway musical "Jersey Boys".  We looked forward to going for several months.  When the day arrived, we dressed in our finest.  (Brian and Jamie Leonard would say that I  wore my jeans with no holes in them and a clean t shirt) and we enjoyed an evening at the BJCC concert hall. Scratch another thing off my list.  Thank you wife.  I had a blast. 

Let me give you a brief synopsis of this little play.  The writer of the play laid the story out in four parts.  The beginning was the Spring portion of the story, where things were getting started.  The group formed and put out recordings and struggled to make it.   The Summer acts was when the group was doing great.  They made hit records and lots of money.  They traveled all over the world.  Then came the Fall season and the group started having problems.  Things were not going right. The Winter season brought the demise of the group and each member went his own way.  Appropriately, the group "The Four Seasons" had gone through four seasons of the life of their singing group. 

Great idea for the play-write.  Well, done sir.

Isn't it just like God to teach me a lesson when I'm right in the middle of enjoying myself?  You see, my time here at my job is rapidly coming to an end.  In July of 2014 I will have been involved in emergency services of some sort for almost 45 years.  30 of those years have been spent with the Emergency Management Agency of Chilton County. 

I hate to admit it but I have had some, shall I say, concerns about retiring.  For 45 years, when something went wrong, someone was in trouble, excrement hit the rotating fan blades, I got called.  Hurricanes in the Gulf, tornado's, ice storms, snow storms, haz-mat incidents, fires, plane crashes, train wrecks, helo crashes, truck wrecks, car wrecks, heart attacks, strokes, shootings, stabbings and tire tool fights....it was always something.  But always, someone needed me and I have been blessed by God to be able to respond.

But I've been thinking, that after July, no one will need me.  Younger men will respond.  Smarter people will figure out what to do.  And I will stay at home and watch it on the news.   All the "stuff" that I've learned over these years will be useless information. 

Until, that is, you see it in the light of the Four Seasons.

You see, I have lived through the Spring of my life in old Calera.  The fun times as a boy with cousins and vacations with Dad and Mom in Destin and Fort Walton when they were just little fishing villages. Calera High School, football games, basketball games, track meets, were all part of that season. 

The Summer of my life started early I guess.  Turning 18 and the little thing called the Viet Nam War came into play.  So from the time I joined the Coast Guard, through the birth of my children, volunteer fire department days, Ambulance service days, days when I worked and lived at Higgins Ferry, taught EMS/ fire classes.  First Responder classes, C.E.R.T. classes, CPR classes and so forth. All these were the prime of life and work came hard and fast.

I thought 30 was old.  But I got started in Emergency Management and these were some of my most memorable times as far as service to people in need.  I was sure at 40 it was over for me, but for my 40th birthday my wife again arraigned for me to ride bulls in a rodeo.  Three rodeos attempting to ride three bulls was enough for that little project.  (You know they say you only have to stay on those bulls for 8 seconds.  Heck, I stayed on much longer than that......and then they opened the gate.) At 50 I realized that I couldn't do as much for as long as I used to do, but still I fought fire, worked wrecks and even worked with the Alabama State troopers and trained working off a 100 foot line under their rescue helo. 

I guess Summer and Fall kind of blurred together because now here I am over 60 and winter is rapidly approaching.  For the first time in my life there was something heavy in the office the other day and I said, "I don't think I can pick that up by my self".  That hurt. 

Winter, cold, hard, dark days.  They will come.  But God worked Winter out so well.  Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and even my anniversary is in the winter.  All things to look forward to.  Winter will not be that long and we will be back to Spring again. 

I hear the Spring flower in Heaven are beautiful. I can't wait until the seasons start all over again.