LEONARD

Yesterday, I wrote a Facebook post and introduced it with a somewhat negative remark about my father's lack of investment in my life.  That comment has bothered me for the last twenty-four hours.  So, I've decided to balance the scales.

My father was born in 1912, and died in 1992 (almost 80).  That means he was a witness to both World Wars, the Spanish flu and the Great Depression.  

He was raised in a small home on 7th Avenue in New Brighton, PA, with his mother, father and five sisters.  His father was an alcoholic.  His mother took in other people's laundry to be able to feed her family.  

He attended school through the eighth grade and then quit.  He lied about his age and was hired at Townsend Company (as a nail-maker) when he was fifteen (around 1927).  He worked for them forty-nine years.  I never remember him missing a day of work.  

On August 17, 1934, he married Hazel Walton.  They took up housekeeping in a home on Mt. Washington in Beaver Falls, PA, that was given to them by Hazel's mother - with the agreement that she would be able to live there with them until her death.  Mrs. Walton was apparently a woman of means since she gave each of her three girls homes on Mt. Washington.  [I never heard my father say a mean word about Mrs. Walton.]

My brother, Ira, and I recently talked about our dad and realized the providence of God in his life.  He was hired right before the Great Depression and apparently worked through that period unaffected.  My sister, Jeannette, was born in 1937, and my brother, Ira, was born in 1940 - both during the Depression!  

My sister, Beverly, came along on today's date, July 25, 1944.  I'm the only baby-boomer in our family, being born in 1952.  

My father was a Christian man who took an extremely active role in the New Brighton Free Methodist Church.  

• Class Leader (many years)
• Trustee (many years)
• Secretary of the Official Board (many years of hand-written minutes)
• Sunday School teacher (boys and later, adults)
• Delegate to Annual Conference (many years)
• Rochester District Campground Trustee (many years)
• Rochester District Secretary
• Member of the Pittsburgh Conference Stationing Committee (over twenty-five years)
• Member of the Pittsburgh Conference Board of Ministerial Education and Guidance (over twenty-five years)
• Pittsburgh Conference Delegate to the Free Methodist General Conference (five times)

Some things I remember about him:

1. He read his Bible every evening in his bedroom.
2. He knelt beside his bed and prayed every night before sleeping.
3. When our family gathered, before anyone left, he would gather us all in the living room where we would all get on our knees and he would pray over us.  

If my dad had a deficiency, it was in showing affection.  Feel free to read another blog article where I talk more about this ["I Taught My Dad To Hug" April 27, 2012].  In spite of this, I have memories:

• I have half-a-dozen memories of him taking me out to play catch - almost always on a Sunday afternoon which must have really bothered my Sabbatarian mom!
• I remember accompanying him when I was about seven to buy some trees and plant them in our yard.
• When we went camping - which we did for nearly two weeks every summer - he would lift me into the car roof carrier and let me load it with wood for our campfires.
• Occasionally, when we were camping, he would play with me in the shallow waters of the lake.
• When I was in college, my brother and I (along with a few other family members) put a new roof on his house.  It was a good time!
• Once, while I was in high school, he took me to a Pitt football game.  Remarkably, they were playing Navy!  Little did we know that I would later have a Midshipman son doing push-ups down on that field...
• He bought a second car when I was sixteen and made it almost fully available to me!
• He paid for a year of my college.

He was NEVER mean or harsh with me!  He was fair!  He was a kind and generous man.  He loved and served the Lord!  He was admired by his larger family.  My mom adored him and partnered with him to make him a better man.  He was a good provider and protector.  

I honor him today and am sorry that I put him in poor light in my post yesterday.  

Thank You, Lord, for my Dad!  Thank You for his faithfulness and for his devotion to You and Your Church!  Thank You that he loved my Mom!  Thank You for the tremendous advantages I've had in my life because I am his son!  I know he's with You today and I rejoice that someday soon, I'll see him (and my Mom) again!  Amen.  

SAMUEL'S SONS

I've always been intrigued by the biblical record of Samuel.  From his mother's pleading for a son to his miraculous birth to his strange rise to authority in Israel as the last judge and great prophet.  To read about him, look at the early chapters of I Samuel - a book that bears his name.

Here's a quick review:

• His mother was loved by her husband, but he also had another wife who was bearing him children, while Hannah was barren.
• During an annual trip to Shiloh, she cried out to God asking for a son and promising to give him to the Lord.
• Eli, the high priest, saw her lips moving as she prayed in her heart and accused her of being drunk.  She explained and he offered her hope that her prayer had been heard.
• She quickly became pregnant and was joyful.  
• After weaning the child, she presented him to Eli to serve in the temple explaining to Eli that he was the child she had prayed for.
• Eli's sons - priests under Eli's direction - were evil due to bullying, ritual abuse and sexual immorality.  Eli tried to restrain them, but they ignored him.
• God called young Samuel one night and gave him a judgment concerning Eli's failure to restrain his sons.
• Shortly after, Eli's sons and Eli died on the same day after a major battle with the Philistines.

I Samuel 3:19-21 (NIV) records:

The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

Samuel went on to anoint Saul as the first king of Israel.  Then, when Saul didn't please the Lord, Samuel followed the Lord's direction and anointed David - the youngest son of Jesse - as the next king of Israel.

As a testimony to his faithfulness, God saw to it that Samuel's 'Farewell Speech' was recorded for us in His Word:  [I Samuel 12:1-5 (NIV)]

Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”

"You have not cheated or oppressed us," they replied.  "You have not taken anything from anyone's hand."

 Samuel said to them, "The LORD is witness against you and also his anointed is witness this day;  that you have not found anything in my hand."

 “He is witness,” they said.

This was a highly revered man in the history of Israel, and God used him in signifcant ways to bless the nation of Israel.  Thanks be to God!

However, in chapter 8, we read:  [vs.1-3]

When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders.  The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba.  But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. 

How is it that these two godly men - Eli and Samuel - served the nation faithfully, but lost their sons spiritually?

We already know that Eli was simply too tolerant.  He spoke to his sons about their evil ways, but failed to restrain them.  He was soft when it came to his sons.  He had the authority to remove them as priests, but failed to do so.  He apparently wasn't willing to get in their faces and demand compliance.

But what about Samuel?  Was he just on-the-road too much?  Away from home?  Left their mother (never mentioned) to raise them?  Was he effective in the nation but weak in the family?  Did he fail to kick a ball with them.  Did he miss their activities and achievements?  Did he fail to express his love for them?  Did he bounce them on his knee?  Take them for walks?  Include them in his journeys?  Pray over them?  Pray with them?

We'll never know...

Samuel's legacy was well-established - that's clear!  However, it didn't get carried into the next generation - that's sad!

Fathering is hard work!  It takes diligence and T-I-M-E!  It take focus and focused attention!

Now, my kids are raised and most of my fathering is finished now.  I've entered the 'consultant stage'.  😊  But for those of you who are still on-the-job, regardless the age of your kids, I'd suggest you look for opportunities to use these four phrases with your kids when you can do it honestly:

1. "I love you!"  
2. "I'm proud of you!"
3. "You did a good job!"
4. "You can be anything you want to be!"

One last thing:  remember the value of touch and make sure you maximize its positive impact!  

Pass on your legacy - don't let it end with you!