Lent Day 10: Thankful for Auntie Molly

"She would have been 84 today," says Uncle Erich. We're laughing and sighing over wonderful memories of his wife and my "best auntie" Amalia. From what Mom tells me about her big sister, Auntie Molly was a cheerful happy girl. Uncle Erich confirms that she had lots of friends all her life.

Uncle Erich and Aunt Molly were a team, married over 50 years. In the opportunistic manner of youngsters, we felt bad that they didn't have kids of their own, but we were happy in their undivided affection. They'd let my cousin and me sit with them in church, take us home for flavorful home-cooked meals, and tuck us into thick feather-beds for sleepovers. In short, their home was a child's heaven.

I learned to pray by listening to them pray. I learned to cook by smell in the fragrance of their kitchen. I learned hospitality by watching them create meals and set the table for hundreds of guests. I learned beauty and decor from Auntie Molly's daring schemes: the crimson velvet drapes from their living room now hang in our chocolate-brown bedroom.

When I was 11, we moved across the country––so they never scolded me about boyfriends, modern styles, or anything else that bugs adults about teenagers. Our phone calls and visits were joyful and affirming. Their fervent prayers surrounded my days and guard my nights. Their godly examples reminded me that people with a heart for God have hope and a future.

God made us, called us to love and work, and guides our steps. He did not give these caring folk biological children but they have been spiritual father and mother to many of us.

This morning's BBC reported on a Kenyan family who cares for 49 orphans beyond their own three kids. I recognized that family's love and prayers from my own childhood, a haven of loving embraces, strict morality, high expectations, and kneeling together to talk to God. I just have to hear Uncle Erich's voice to have a flood of warm memories fill me to bursting. I often wish I could run across town to sit at his table for tea or invite him for dinner.

If you're single or childless, I appeal to you to find children who are hungry for attention and significance. My family was healthy and happy: Mom and Dad didn't neglect or abuse us. But that extra-special touch from my Auntie Molly and Uncle Erich colored my life-pages with enduring beauty.

Today, I thank God for those who––knowing how God loved us and gave his Son for us––share that love with others. You live your private moments and unheralded ordinary days filled with grace, generosity, and hospitality. We children never forget how you take us in, put up with our childhood messes, and make us feel like no one else in the world is more special than we are to you.

During Lent, grateful for the Savior's love, I can say about my sweet auntie on her birthday (and of my uncle, too), "I have seen Jesus reflected in you." Thank you!

Read more:
*God knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him. Daniel 2:22

*Whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. Mark 4:22 (NIV)

Moravian Prayer: Revealing God, we know your intent is always to open yourself to us in every way imaginable. Help us to have the ears to hear and the eyes to see the truths that you are constantly laying out before us. Guide us to live in accordance with those truths. Amen.

Father's Day to a loving meanie

 

What do you think of when someone says, "Dad"? Is your dad someone who makes you think of God as a loving advocate or an overbearing authoritarian? Is there no middle ground?

We always hear how "good dads" go to sports games, play with their kids, and spend time with their families. My dad participated in our lives, but he did more. He established boundaries of authority and respect that have served us abundantly into adulthood. I'd like to say a big thank you today to a dad who took his fathering seriously. While he enjoyed us, nurtured us, and provided well, he also instilled in us high morals and godly principles.

My father was strict. We all knew he said what he meant and meant what he said. He proved it to us with spankings, groundings, and restrictions.

Yet we never doubted his love. When we had disobeyed and received due punishment, we quit doing wrong, knowing he cared about us enough to set us straight. Being the second child, I landed in the first wave of "this is how good children behave." I guess my older brother and I caught the brunt of "good training." It didn't help that I had a flash temper and minimal self-control as a youngster! Our two younger brothers fared better at the end of the rod. Probably L and I wore Dad and Mom down: surprisingly, our other two siblings turned out fine.

The youngest remarked to me a few years ago, "You know, I never saw Dad discipline us in anger. Dad's attitude was, 'You deserve this punishment, so here it is.' Then we'd be done. He never held over hostility to us kids afterwards or showed his frustration."

Today most Americans would call strict parents like mine "mean" or "cruel." Spanking is out of fashion and illegal as the government overreaches into normal families to try to prevent abuse by evil parents. I deplore abuse and cruelty, let's be clear about that.



However, Dad truly demonstrated how a good parent behaves. Never malicious, he allowed a good appeal. We had open discussions about anything we wanted to talk about around the kitchen table. We weren't afraid of him... unless we knew we were deliberately disobeying. Then we looked over our shoulders, knowing we'd earned what was coming.  

Thanks from the bottom of our hearts, Dad. We love and trust God today because we learned to love and trust you completely.

As a mom of grown kids and an appreciative daughter, here's a word to young dads on their special day of honor. A great parent will not let their child rule the roost and abdicate their responsibility by letting a child run wild. Watching some kids sass and hit their parents, I shudder to think of these crazy adolescents on the loose in a few years. Employers, coworkers, and even prison guards may be cursing these children's irresponsible parents in the future.

Dads, please do your duty. Scripture not only encourages, but demands that you establish and enforce worthy rules and boundaries! Pray and read the Bible with your kids. Go to those games. Hug your kids. Hold down a steady job - even if it's not your dream work - to provide for the family. But don't neglect the core character training God has entrusted to you. No one else can - or will - do it for you. Your kids and their future depend on it! 

Read more:
*Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you. Deut. 8:5 NIV

*Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches man lack knowledge? Psa. 94:10   NIV

*The LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. Prov. 3:12 NIV

*The Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” Heb. 12:6 NIV

*Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. Heb. 12:10 NIV