Scripture
God puts out the light of the man who curses his father or mother.
~Proverbs 20:20, TLB
Quote
To be alienated from your family can produce deep sadness.
~Timothy Keller
No two people have been conditioned the exact same way, not even siblings from the same household. I have one sister 84 and one who is 60, that is a 24 year span. Trust me, they were not raised the same way. We tend to be a little harder on the older children because we have this idea that our parents didn’t discipline quite the right way and we are going to get it right but it does not take long for us to realize that parenting is not as easy as we had assumed. I must be careful what I say because there are exceptions to the rule, there are parents who are miserable failures; you might say, they are not parents at all because they are so wrapped up in their own lives that they really don’t have time for their children. I know children who have such parents. If you are one of them, I apologize to you in behalf of decent society. Parents should not abandon their children to seek their own pleasure.
But the thought for today is a bit different. What about your parents; were they perfect or did you catch them in some mistakes? Parents, all parents do make mistakes. There is no question that in one area or another, our parents failed us. It took me much longer to appreciate my father than it did for me to appreciate my mother. Growing up, my daddy’s faults were glaring. He spoke French fluently and he had fits or tantrums often. He had a very short fuse and I had a gift at setting it on fire. Of course, in my youth, I saw all his faults and none of his strengths; as I matured {slowly}, I began to see my faults and suddenly daddy became a better man. It took awhile, but I am thankful that I grew to appreciate my father and the contributions he made to my well being. I stopped resenting him for taking no interest in my life and for constantly pointing out my faults. My father never attended an athletic event where I was participating until my senior year in high school. The postman compelled to attend or he would not have gone to that game. He put him on the spot and daddy didn’t have much choice. Eventually, I came to realize that no parent is perfect. Matter of fact, I have serious doubts that my father failed as much as myself. Hopefully at some point we will stop resenting their failures and begin to appreciate their contributions.
In the end I realized my father loved me although his generation never verbalized their affections. My love for him continues to grow and I do my best to honor both he and mother. I do not want my lights turned out; I do not want to lose my joy and that is what resenting your parents will do–it will snuff out your joy and gladness. By the grace of God, I will honor my mother and father as long as I live.
I am sure you will find more mistakes than normal in this blog. I did it this morning and for some reason, I cannot proof read very well on the same day. When I wait a day or more, many of the errors are glaring. Anywho, I hope you can figure it out.
Whitey Holcomb came through his procedure well and is coming home today. Pat Vanderford will have surgery tomorrow. Please pray for Pat and Brenda. Larry Slater is also under the weather. I will, LORD willing be making some visits today and maybe tomorrow I will know a little more. Of course we want to continue praying for Tracy B. Prater. I would also like for you to pray for Sandra Sharp who is also battling cancer. Remember our MISSIONARIES in your prayers, the Chinese Virus has affected them to by restricting their work. Please don’t forget to pray for President Trump and for REVIVAL IN AMERICA.
REVIVAL IN AMERICA prayer group meets at Hardee’s in Hartselle in the morning at 5:30 AM