After my grandfather came from Italy, he became a barber and all six of his children had to pitch in to help in the shop. That shop was where my dad learned his barbering. As a young man dad went off to the war and after coming home settled on opening a beauty salon. On Mondays, dad closed the store for cleaning and while I helped sweep the floors and clean the chairs, we had some of our best talks. Dad loved telling stories and one of his favorites was how many of the ladies washed their hair before coming in, even though they knew he would wash it again. They just couldn’t stand the idea of him seeing that their hair dirty! Now you might think that silly, but sometimes we do the same thing when we go to church. Think of church as Heaven’s beauty shop, where God has a message and fellowship prepared for us that can help us with our dirty hair and give us a loving style again. But instead, of coming to ask God for His help, we decide that we better get ourselves washed up at home, so maybe He won’t notice. Even crazier is that, unlike dad’s clientele, we do not even have to pay the bill. Instead, God has chosen to pay in advance at Calvary, for everything we have ever done. He is not angry when we come with our needs and problems, instead He is ready to wash away our sin and exchange it for grace and beauty and leaves us a new lifestyle. Then, He proudly shows anyone who wants to know that our hair as well as our soul is squeaky clean and ready for Heaven! The hymn “Just as I Am”, reminds us how Jesus calls us to come.
Family
Safely Home
But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” Luke 15:32 NIV
My wife and I used to ride in separate vehicles on the way to church. One of our two sons would go with her to Sunday School, while the other tagged along with me. During that hour I went to sing hymns for a nursing home and then we would meet in church for the service. Afterwards our practice was to switch who road home with who, mostly because tour little guys liked riding in my pickup truck. Everything worked great, till one day we got a brief taste of what the prodigal’s father had experienced in today’s verse. That was the Sunday that we forgot our older son Chris at church. After being left behind, it didn’t take Chris long to realize that something was amiss, but he didn’t panic. He thoroughly searched the church and asked around with our friends. Remember that in those pre-cell phone years, no one could just call us up, so Chris, being a bit puzzled as to what best to do, just sat down on the steps. Just then one of the deacons (who thankfully was our close friend) came to lock the doors and noticed Chris.
“So, where’s your mom and dad?” he asked. “I don’t know.” Chris answered shaking his head.
“Hey, if you want to ride in my truck, I’ll take you home.” John offered.
Meanwhile when Nancy and I met back at home, minus one son, panic began to set in. I quickly grabbed my keys, ran down the back steps and out the door, when just then John’s truck with both Chris and John grinning from ear to ear pulled up to the house. “Forget something?” John asked with a chuckle,
As Chris hopped out, Nancy and I ran to embrace our very briefly lost son and understood just a little the prodigal son’s father, as his son came stumbling home. Imagine then the heart of God. Though we have forgotten Him, He has never forgotten us, and He sent Jesus to pick us up at the cross and carry us safely home to Him!
Remembering Dad
Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 5:16 ESV
I was quite moved at the Memorial Day event held at our community clubhouse yesterday. Though I myself have not served in the armed forces, I gratefully recalled all that my dad did during WW2. Dad, as a second generation Italian, had his introduction to Italy when he landed there during the battle of Anzio in March of 1944. Then in August of that year he was wounded, when his landing craft was sunk off the coast of St. Raphael,France. Because I grew up without my dad, I never realized or appreciated all that he did and had gone through that year. To me, dad was just a quiet stranger who didn’t seem to understand the motivations and questions of my generation. Little did I know how much he did know and just how smart he really was.
Today , I sit in wonder as I come face to face with how much he and thousands of other guys did and how much I miss him. Thank God for you dad. I know that you have found peace and ultimate victory in the arms of Jesus Christ but I wanted to take this little space to honor you. You were a quiet soldier, a simple man and a faithful father and I am thankful that God gave you to me.
Though all the honor ultimately belongs to God, I am not only commanded to honor my parents, but God backs this command up with a blessing. And though our moms and dads were not perfect(who is?), we are each in some way blessed as we honor them. God promises a special blessing when we remember them with gratitude and then pass on their story to others. For me, one of those special blessings, was bringing my dad to Washington D.C. for the dedication of the WW2 memorial. I snapped his picture there and then years later, my cousin gave me another photo of him from when he was still in uniform. When I held it up I was suddenly struck by how similar they were. Here was the same man, with the same smile and yet a lifetime of wounds and struggles, defeats and victories separated them. Today I have only a few photographs and memories, but I am grateful for all the good that my dad left behind. God is faithful to keep all His promises. So, let’s pause for a moment and give honor to our parents, so that we may pass along to our own children a life’s story of our own that points to the honor of the most wonderful Father of all!
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