Dad, The Shed is Burning,: A Memorial Day Memory

I know that we can lose the real meaning of Memorial Day in the fanfare of fun and frolic.   My heart grieves for the parents of those who have lost sons and daughters in service of our country.

I talked with some men and women headed to Iraq a few years back.  I met them at the Cracker Barrel in Tuscaloosa as the Associational Team headed to Shocco Springs.  I studied each one of them and prayed for them knowing that some may not return home alive to their families.  They were so young.  Some were younger than Aaron who will be celebrating his 35^th birthday as some of you read this article.

I heard daddy talk of friend and comrades that did not make it home from WWII.  It always brought a tear to his eyes.  I never understood how much it affected him.  I know that we never did anything special on Memorial Day, but I remember some memorial events.

One Memorial Day we were planting momma some sweet corn.  Daddy took advantage of being off from work and we always worked on holidays.  We never cooked out, never went to the river, never visited, and never shot fireworks, but daddy worked the fire out of us.  It was his way of not allowing us to get bored and a good way to be thankful when we sat down at the table.  Momma’s fried sweet corn was good!

As we plowed, I noticed that something was wrong with our cub tractor.  The right rear tire was wobbling.  The rear housing was broken.  I got daddy’s attention and he said that he would drive it to his brother-in-law’s shop and I could follow him in the Batmobile.  Remember Batman and his Batmobile.  The Batmobile was our black 1960 Ford Galaxy.  It had those heinous rear fender wings, but it was a trill for this 12 year to drive two miles by myself.

Dad removed the rear tire and started welding as I played football with my cousins.  I noticed smoke coming from the top of the shed.  I asked my cousins if it was it normal for the smoke.  That said that when their dad welded that it did that.  I played some more and the black smoke rolled out from the eves of the shed.

I told my cousins I was going to see if dad needed any help.  When I went to the shed, I saw daddy sitting under the tractor welding as burning boards and debris from a raging fire burning overheard roared.  Daddy had his hood down and thought that the fire was the arcing of the welding rods.

I knew I had to get him out and I ran into the fire and pulled on him.  I screamed that the shed was on fire and as daddy raised his shield, he told me to run.  He pulled out my uncle’s welding machine and that was the only piece of equipment saved.  Everything else was lost.

There was no insurance on the tractor and my uncle did not claim our tractor in his insurance claim.  We had to stop farming until daddy found another tractor.  A few weeks later he did and I got to drive it all the way from the Shelby County airport to our house.  That was a great trip that I will never forget.  Driving a Farmall Cub tractor twenty miles all alone was fearful in the beginning but become more exciting by the minute.  Not many twelve-year-olds do that.

I have thought many times after the fire about how close my dad was to perishing in that fire.  I never considered my deed heroic.  I just could not stand to see my dad burn.  I can close my eyes and see the fiery boards falling around my unsuspecting daddy.  I never thought about them trapping him and me.  I glad I ignored my cousins and checked on daddy anyway.  Had I lost dad that day to a fire, I would have lost him to a second fire that lasts forever.  Daddy did not know Christ back then.  His rescue then gave an opportunity for salvation’s rescue many years later.

 

But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:7

 

And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 1:23-25

Be Sure To Write It Down

At a men’s rally, the speaker told of a poster his daughter made for her college dorm room.  Her favorite posters are those with Tim Tebow on them.  I would say of all the posters that college girls could have a Tim Tebow poster is pretty good choice.

To the dad’s surprise, the poster was not of Tim Tebow.  Instead, the poster was a list of the things that the dad had told is daughter as she was growing up.  He said it made him think, what I have told her and what he should have told her.

At the 100^th Anniversary of Dixon’s Mills Baptist, a representative from the Alabama Baptist Historical Society said people should write down the words of church members because so much is lost after a long period of time if it is not recorded.  With a hundred years behind, there had to be many tremendous events of Dixon’s Mills Baptist Church that future members need to know.

Very few people spoke at 100th Celebration.  I think it was the magnitude of the moment and trying to remember what had been said and what had been done.  Pastor Richard Martindale’s granddaughter took notes where at future celebrations there would have a recorded history of words from those who did speak.

I remember one of my history professors at the University of Montevallo saying, “If you do not write down an event, it never happened.”  Word of mouth will turn to hearsay, tale, fable, or legend if events are not documented.  There have been events in our lifetime that proved to be false when people discovered documented evident to the contrary of hearsay

As I reflected on Mother’s Day, I thought of a list of things that my momma told me and decided to write them down.  As I reflect, some are humorous, some are profound, and some prophetic. Here it goes a few:

            You reap what you sow.

            You cannot go swimming until you learn how to swim.

            You can do anything you put your head to do.

            You need to pray that God leads you to girl to be your wife.

            Be sure to wear clean underwear in case you are in an accident.

            If you fall out of that tree and break your neck, I am going to whup you.

            If we were picking our nose she would ask if we were cleaning out the dance hall.

            If you get hurt, don’t come crying to me.

            If someone else can do that, you can do it.

            If you runaway from home, I will beat you to death.

            If you run while I am trying to whup you, I beat you when I catch you.

            If you don’t do it right the first time, you will have to lick that calf again.

            Never kiss a girl unless you are serious about her.

            Good girls don’t call here and ask for you.

            I may not can see you, but God does.

            I got little eyes everywhere so that I can see you.

            I am going to beat you till you cry.

            I hate the name Roe. (Roe was her first name.)

            I been so mean the grass will not grow on my grave when I die. (It does not by the way.)

            What is said in this house stays in this house.

            What ever you do, do your best.

            What you’re doing will come home to you one day.

            What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

            Payday comes one day.

            Don’t let the sun go down being mad at someone

            You may never get a chance to say you’re sorry.

            Use good words, they taste better when you have the eat them.

            Don’t let nobody tell you that you are not good enough.

            Mama told my sister not to wear a dress to the garden because the potatoes had eyes

            “Say Calf Rope” (When she was wrestling us and holding until we said, “Calf Rope.”

            Go cut me a switch!

            Just wait to your daddy gets home.

            When you have kids, you will pay for your raising.

            Ya’ll will probably have to hire people to come to my funeral.

            Nobody may love us, but we love one each other.

            Read your Bible and pray.

            One day I gonna be gone and you will be sorry you said that to me.

            Stick you nose in that corner and stand on your tiptoes until I tell you to stop.

            God will take care of us.

These are only a few that brothers and sister could remember.  There were some others, but I cannot write them in this article.

I remember one Mother’s Day, I preached at Pine Hill and I mentioned Coach “Bear” Bryant’s Bellsouth commercial.  When taping the commercial, he said, “Be sure and call your mom, I wished I could call mine.”  The producers that it was corny, but the more they played it the more genuine it was.

After the service, the sermon and the commercial went viral.  Viral means it was on the internet.  Words I said and words of the late “Bear” Bryant captured for all to read, see, and hear in a matter minutes.  I am glad I took time to write down things momma said.

Proverbs 31:1 sums up the word of a mother pretty good.  The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him (KJV).      

           

 

           

           

Mother's Day Without Mom

 

I celebrated my thirty-fifth Mother’s Day without my mom.  Legendary Alabama Football Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant did a telephone commercial.  He concluded it with two sentences at the end, "Have you called your Momma?  I sure wish I could call mine."  Producers that it was corny, but the more they listened the more they heard the sincerity of the Bear.  I can say it now.  I wish I could call my momma.

 Mother's Day is a day of celebration and reflection.  I remember doing a friend’s funeral on Mother’s Day.  He was killed in a tractor accident the Thursday evening before Mother's Day.  It followed a wedding, rehearsal and reception, my daughter’s college graduation, a baby dedication, and a high school baseball state championship.  All those events happening in a period of four days drained me emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  Not everyone has a joyous Mother’s Day, especially those who mourn their first Mother’s Day without their mom or the loss of a child.

It is ironic that Memorial Day comes on the heels of Mother’s Day.  Granny Hopper received word that my daddy died in action in North Africa.  It has to be almost unbearable for parents to receive news of a soldier boy or girl dying.  I remember Granny telling how she prayed that her notice was wrong.  She could not believe her ears when daddy told her that he was wounded, but very much alive.

Thousands have not received the good news granny did.  In the Old Testament, there is a story of a mother who waited for the return of her son from war.  Her son was an enemy of Israel, but a son.  The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots? (Judges 5:28 KJV)  It was another lady, possibly a mother, who killed Sisera.  Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died (Judges 4:21 KJV).

The Bible reminds us that there will be wars and rumors of wars until the return of Christ.  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet Matthew 24:6 KJV).

As the United States of America continues to defend the freedoms of our nation and the freedoms of those who we have championed, let us remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice that we might have a Mother’s Day and Memorial to celebrate.

Radiator and me

It is funny the people you meet that stick in your mind and things that call them to mind.  The other day, while working on the laptop computer, I kept using my cell phone as a mouse.  The laptop has a pad that you use, but I had placed my cell phone beside the laptop and unconsciously I would move the phone while looking at the screen only to realize the cursor was not moving.  “Duh”, I said to myself.  I finally placed the cell phone to another place on the desk. 

Then, I thought of how many times I have tried to open the office, the house, the post office box by mashing my key with my thumb.  Talk about being programmed.  My Honda key unlocks my car, opens the trunk and blows the horn, so naturally I try my others key the same.

There is something else.  Did you know that a cordless phone will not change the channels on the television?  I know I have tried it several times.  I would point the antenna at the TV and push channel 4.  Next, I would bump the phone to remind the batteries to work.  It is funny when you realize just how dumb you are.

I know that you can program the DVD player remote to change TV channels and you can program the TV remote to change the DVD, but I do not think you can program the cordless phone to control the DVD player or TV.

They say confession is good for the soul.  I confess.  There are too many gadgets and too many buttons to push.  We live in a push button world.  What was life like before push button gadgets?

Speaking of gadgets, we were actually able to carry on intelligent and extended conversations, drive at normal speeds on the highways, hear sermons, and attend meetings without interruption before cell phones.  Do you remember dial telephones?

That brings me back to people sticking in you mind.  I remember working with a guy named “Radiator”.  It was an odd name and Radiator was an odd kind of man.  He wore coveralls and his hair was never combed and looked as he had just gotten out of bed.

He did odd things.  Once hearing of a submerged fishing boat, sunk by a floating log, he inquired of its location.  A day or two later he had retrieved the sixteen 16’ fiberglass runabout with a Mercury outboard.  He patched the hull, reworked the outboard and started fishing and skiing.

On another occasion he had a Volkswagen bus that had a nut on the real axle that would not stay tightened so he welded the nut to the hub and axle.  He had a knack with gadgets.  It was 1971.  The company where Radiator and I worked said employees were making too many outside calls.  Management placed a lock in the first hole of the rotary dial of all the telephones in the plant.  Our foreman was bragging how outside calls had ceased and people were working more.  Radiator said he could make a call without dialing.  The foreman, who thought Radiator a nut, argued that Radiator could not.  It was very interesting for an 18 year old boy to hear two grown men arguing like grade school boys over a dare, but I listened.

Radiator asked the foreman for his home phone number.  The foreman told him then Radiator proceeded to lift the receiver and with his pointer finger push the buttons in the receiver cradle with a Morse code rhythm of the numbers given by the foreman.  Radiator handed the phone to the foreman which heard ringing and then his wife answer the phone.  The know-it-all foreman got a quick lesson from the gadget man on how the dial was a circuit breaker that when dialed broke the circuits in a systematic rhythm determined by the hole dialed.

Radiator was smarter than he appeared.  When I think of it, John the Baptist, being a little odd, was wiser than he appeared.  I guess with my gadget dilemmas, I am dumber than I appear. 

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16 KJV)

Serpents know the principles of survival and the softness of doves invites all to know them.  In a push button world, God’s truth obligates the disciple to send the message and the seeker to listen.