A Fathers’ Day message to military dads serving overseas

Hey Dad. your kids are very proud you’re serving Uncle Sam,
but they sure do miss you since you’re far from home.
They are worried for your safety and they ask the Lord each night
to protect you when you’re frightened and alone.

Hey Dad, your son is certain what he wants to be someday.
There’s just one thing that he really wants to do.
While standing soldier-straight he gives a miniature salute
and says one day he wants to be like you.

Hey Dad, I heard your daughter brag about you to her friends
while primping at the mirror combing curls.
She says you call her princess and that you’re her handsome prince
even though she knows she’s daddy’s little girl.

Hey Dad, your wife is counting days until you will be home,
She can’t find the words to say how much you’re missed,
You’re her hero plain and simple and that’s what she tells your kids
as she tucks them into bed with one last kiss.

Hey Dad, you’re being thought about a lot this Fathers’ Day.
No one else can fill your shoes or take your place.
You are loved by God in Heaven and by family here on earth
as you go about your duties at your base.

Instructions for caretakers

When digging ’round the family tree
don’t be suprised at what you see.
Some unmarked graves and skeletons
are there to be unearthed.

You’ll find some things that make you sad
and other things that make you mad.
But in the shade of that old tree
you’ll also find some gems.

The soil’s rich. The roots go deep
and what is there will make you weep.
Both tears of pain and gratitude
just knowing you belong.

So tend the tree that bears your name
and guard it from all blight and shame.
The fruit it bears in years to come
may well depend on you.

* For the past week I have had the privilege of hosting Norwegian relatives on their first visit to America. Sharing photos and telling stories have been informative and inspirational. My appreciation for my ancestral roots in Scandinavia has been deepened by their visit. I’m reminded of the television series called “Who Do You Think You Are?” on Friday evenings on NBC. Well worth watching!

Taking our cues from a dying Son

A mother wept (bent low with grief),
her son condemned as if a thief.
This one who’d filled her heart with joy
now bled hung out to die.

Yes, Mary stood beneath the cross
confused, convulsing, feeling lost.
This one she’d nursed and rocked to sleep
now closed his eyes in pain.

Yet, Jesus saw his grieving mom.
And knowing he would soon be gone
conveyed his love most tenderly
with words that touched her heart.

“Behold, your son,” he gently sighed
while nodding to his friend nearby.
“Take care of her,” he asked of John,
“Please treat her like your mom.”

And in that moment Jesus graced
his mother with a special place.
And we’d do well to do the same
in light of what moms do. 

Lessons from a postcard delivered fifty-five years late

Did you hear about the postcard that a mother sent her son?
She mailed it fifty-five long years ago.
But the postcard never got there (even though it had a stamp).
And the reason it got lost we’ll never know.

But that postcard from his mother did eventually arrive.
Just last month it was delivered after all.
Scott Mc Murray, now retired (and his mother long-since dead),
got a note of love in her familiar scrawl.

What a gift! How unexpected! How amazing! Such delight!
Just imagine tears of joy Scott must have cried.
From the grave her voice still whispers through a letter lost for years.
And it says a mother’s love can’t be denied.

Mother’s love forever reaches to the child she has born.
There’s a bond that can’t be broken or undone.
And though circumstances threaten to defeat what it intends,
a mother’s love won’t quit until it’s won.

Much the same our loving Father sent us letters from His heart,
but too often (and by many) they’re misplaced.
If we’d read them we’d discover His pursuing love prevails
and will seek until it finds us. It’s called grace!
 

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/04/scott-mcmurray-gets-postcard-from-his-mom-sent-55-years-ago-75461.html

A plea to gun-toting parents

If you love your daughters and your sons,
you can’t be careless with your guns.
A weapon left in easy reach
can be the death of them.

The tragic news we’ve read about
should undermine whatever doubt
may yet remain concerning what’s
the loving thing to do.

A grownup gun is not a toy.
And little girls and little boys
can’t differentiate what’s what
except when it’s too late.

So please lock up the guns you own
before you hear your child moan
while bleeding out before your eyes
that can’t hold back the tears.

* http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017752432_shooting15m.html