An "Oldie but Goodie" for an "Oldie but Goodie"

June 20, 2002

Dear Dad,

On Father’s Day Pastor Chip told us his son, Ben, reminded him he needed to write a letter to his father, like he had done to his mom on Mother’s Day. Pastor said the same applied to us, and he was right.

I’m sure you’ve heard this famous Mark Twain quote: “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned.”

It’s really quite amazing how much you have in common with Mark Twain’s father. You have gotten so much smarter and wiser than you were when I was a kid! It’s equally amazing to come to the understanding that you were always so, and this letter is to tell you exactly that.

There are many reasons why I’m grateful for you, among them:

●How industrious you always were, always working, always finishing what you started; we always knew our Dad could fix anything!

●How hard you worked, being willing to take a second job to provide for your family; how you cared for what you had and taught your children the same; how important it was not to waste what you were given (although why you and Mom insisted on even eating burned cookies – so as to not let them “go to waste” – is beyond me!)

●How patient you were, whether it was teaching a kid to drive a car or waiting for him or her to come to his or her senses!

●How you loved our mother, your kids, your country – and every furry friend whose wagging tail ever switched across your path!

Thanks, Dad. You are a great one!

Love, Barb

If there ever was a father

Who loved his daughters more

I haven’t heard of him

In all the father lore!

It is quite true that he

Never liked those messy pants

And there were the occasional

Endless wordy rants!

But this man worked so hard

To provide for his girls three

Making sure life was good

For his babies and for me!

From driving trips to all

Four corners of our land,

Baseball games and eating out

This dad was (is!) really grand!

He loves his Lord as well

And shows that love each day

As he serves and shares and gives

Trusting God for come what may.

He’s put his family first

Helping each one as they need

And never have I seen

Even a bit of selfish greed.

And so, this Father’s Day

We honor this dear man –

Bob Larson, we love you

And we’re each your biggest fan!

"Yay God! And Maybe Dad Needs a Fanny Pack!"

A woman had 10 silver coins. Maybe it was her dowry, maybe it was her family’s life savings. When she realized she had lost one of the valuable coins she turned the house upside down, sweeping and looking under ever pillow and doily until she found it. And when she did, she called all her friends and neighbors together and joyfully said to them, “Rejoice with me!  I have found my coin! “

A man had 100 sheep and one wandered off. He left the 99 and searched high and low until he located the poor lost lamb. He put it on his shoulders and with lighthearted steps made his way back home. He proclaimed to all his friends and neighbors: “Rejoice with me! I have found my lost sheep!”

Another man had a habit of misplacing his wallet. And his organizer book. He would accidentally leave one of them in a restaurant or someplace where he was absolutely sure it wasn’t. Today was one of those days. He and his wife searched the house, on shelves high and low, behind tables, under the couch. He was positive he didn’t leave it at the restaurant where they’d had breakfast, but regardless, they couldn’t check because it was a breakfast/lunch kind of place and by the time he realized the wallet was missing it was the dinner hour and the restaurant was closed. They went to the parking lot and looked, just in case.

The man was “positive” the wallet must be in his daughter’s backyard where he’d been playing fetch with the dog, and that it had somehow fallen out of his pocket. His daughter checked and no, it was not there (the possibility was considered that the wallet might have, indeed fallen out, become a chew-toy and was therefore now in myriad tiny pieces throughout the grass, but no evidence existed to prove that theory).

The man thought perhaps the wallet had popped out of his pocket onto the ground out by the riverside fishing spot, where he and his wife had earlier been looking for driftwood, so they trekked back on out there and searched. Nope, no sir-ee, no wallet. Another possibility: perhaps some kind, honest soul had found it and turned it in? Or might still yet turn it in? Off to the police station to file a missing wallet report. And the wallet was still missing.

Amazing how much praying one does when something important is lost. How much pleading. And even begging. A lost wallet can turn one’s life upside down, and inside out.  A lost wallet means cancelling credit cards. Getting a new driver’s license. Missing cash. And worst of all in this day and age –it could mean  identity theft. And the husband prayed. And the wife prayed. And the wife called the daughter to request prayer. And the wife called the other two daughters to ask for prayer, not only for the return of the wallet but for peace of mind for the man.

After all the searching hither and yon, the man and his wife returned home once more to look in all the previously looked-in, looked-at places. Maybe, just maybe the wallet would  “appear” out of a hat, like a magician’s rabbit.

It was through no magician’s “sorcery,” but the wife did, indeed, find the wallet, in a spot the man had never before put it. And if that particular spot had been checked already, she couldn’t say. But what she can say is that what was lost was found. Anxiety was replaced with relief. And joy.  And they are calling all their family and friends together to say, “Rejoice with me! What was lost is found!” Praise God. He cares unbelievably much about lost things. And a daughter said, "Yay, God! (Maybe Dad needs a fanny pack!!)"

“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”  Luke 15:7