Sermon Interpretation

Though it was a father’s day message, I thought it applied to all the adults in our lives when we are young and impressionable. The question was: What memories will you leave with your children?

I wonder what memories my children have. We talk often about things when they were growing up. I know they believe they have a strong work ethic, unlike their peers today. I know they are constantly frustrated because they want the truth and fairness. We always told them that life isn’t fair, but we tried to treat them fairly. They always tell me that they believed every word (or threat) I made, because I had shown them my word was good. They don’t mention their father much. I hope they have more than memories of anger from him.

I think about my own parents and grandparents. Though I have many memories of my dad’s father, two stick out. He always sat and napped during church. It was my job to keep him awake on Sunday mornings. I learned later his hearing was worse than we ever knew, yet he believed he was supposed to be in church. It impressed me. The other memory was the time the news was on regarding changing the law to allow abortions. He grabbed his Bible and stomped around the house spewing Bible verses and yelling at no one in particular about the atrocity of killing the unborn. This was the man with a 4th grade education who had the time to always answer my endless questions.

My mom’s mother was another profound influence in my life. She was my only example of unconditional love. Though she lived two thousand miles away, she was there with letters and periodic phone calls. I learned years later that she would have “talks” with my mother about raising me. That taught me to listen to my own parents when dealing with my teens – they had already survived. More important, it taught me that a child is never too old to be put in their place by their parent. It’s never pleasant, but the job of parenting never ends. I look forward to the day I can talk to her face-to-face again.

I really enjoyed a recent testimony when someone said her family was described as not necessarily Christian, but religious. That is a nice way to sum up my childhood. My dad taught me that missing church was not an option. My mother taught me to challenge everything – not to be obnoxious, but to believe something because it was worth believing.

Mom was notorious for making me look up the spelling of words in the dictionary instead of telling me. She also sent me to research the answers to all my questions with the tools I needed. She likes to tell the story of how it took me all day to answer the question about evolution vs. creation. Every time I thought I had the answer, she would play devil’s advocate and I’d have to go back and study some more. By the end of the day I came to the conclusion that there is no proof of any theory – they are all based on faith. But I learned to question and research. And I learned how to help others come to their own conclusions about things.

Despite many not so nice things in my life, I learned many good things. I take it as proof that all things do work together for God’s glory (Romans 8:28). And I pray I can positively influence the people I encounter each day.