Dear Fellow Children of God,
This Sunday in worship we will hear God the Father
speak to Jesus at His baptism, "You
are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." So, how patient is our Heavenly Father with
you? As you think of patience, please consider
a recent experience I had with 3 of my grandchildren.
The Monday before Christmas I had a family
ice-fishing trip scheduled. The only
ones who were able to come along were Jake and Emma and Henry. So, that afternoon we drove out to a local
lake and did some fishing. Actually, the
fishing itself was not too bad. In a few
minutes each child had caught a fish.
But one grandpa, or “Poppy” as they call me, and 3 grandchildren was . .
. an adventure.
With 3 fish on the ice and I looked over to see
where they were. But I only saw two fish. The children had been playing with the fish
and I asked where the third fish was.
Emma said, “Maybe a bear took the other fish.” Jake told me, “Do you remember the movie
‘Finding Nemo’ where the fish try to flop back into the water? Maybe the fish was trying to flop back
in.” Anyway, we never found that third fish,
so we caught a few more.
Henry, the four year old, kept walking around with
the ice scoop. I pointed out he
shouldn’t step on the poles. And, when
Henry looked straight at me and walked right at the hole in the ice, I
encouraged him to walk on the outside of the four holes I had drilled so he
would keep dry and warm. Henry walked
right into the middle of the four holes and kept scooping, backing up toward
another hole. Thankfully, Henry never
did fall in. I have experienced wet
children before while ice fishing.
Henry then told me he was cold so I helped him
crawl back into the truck which I had driven onto the ice. I started the truck to keep him warm. But, while he was in the truck Henry was away
from the action. So he opened up the
window. The next thing I knew I heard
Henry’s voice calling, “Poppy.
Poppy.” I answered, “What,
Henry?” “I’m cold, Poppy,” he told
me. I replied, “So, Henry, close the
window.”
Jake and Emma were fishing but, usually when the
bobber went down, their eyes were elsewhere.
I tried teaching them how to stand close to the hole and watch the
bobber, but it seems they missed most of the bites. However, they did learn how to kick the
chunks of ice the auger had made when we drilled the holes. Chunk after chunk of ice ended up in the
holes where we were trying to fish. I
tried to encourage, or even more directly instruct, them not to kick the ice
into the holes. But my instructions never
worked. O well.
After a while Jake and Emma also climbed into the
truck to get warm. I started picking up the
equipment, with the poles still in the water.
Henry opened the window again. Now Henry hollered out, “Poppy, I’m hot.”
But, Emma stuck her head out the window and said, “I’m cold,
Poppy.” So, what does a grandfather do
in that situation?
I finished picking up the gear, caught a couple more
fish, and we got the children buckled into the car seats. One car seat is a challenge. Three car seats take a major effort!
As we were driving away I heard Henry call out
from the back seat, “Poppy!” “Yes,
Henry,” But Henry spoke softly and I couldn’t understand. He called out two more times times and I
couldn’t hear him, so I told him, “Henry, you are in the back seat. You need to speak a little more loudly so I
can understand you.” Back came the call
again, “Poppy!” I still couldn’t
understand him, but Emma interpreted for me.
Henry was saying, “Maybe when we get to your house you can answer my
question.” “Ok, Henry,” I said, “What’s
your question?” “I don’t know,” Henry answered. How do you answer that question?
We did get to my house. I cleaned the fish and they drank hot
cocoa. I was worn out when I brought
them home and began thinking that this was just a short three hour outing with only
three of my six grandchildren. God is
Father to all the people of the earth.
How often do we try the patience of God with our questions, or our lack
of faith and understanding? And God’s
patience is not just for a three hour period, it is eternal. God’s patience is not just with 3 loving
grandchildren, but often with billions of wayward people.
In Matthew 7 we are told about the love of our
heavenly Father, “7 "Ask and it
will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened
to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who
knocks, the door will be opened. 9 "Which of you, if his son asks for
bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a
snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to
your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to
those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11)
God wants us to ask, to seek,
and to knock so He can show us His love.
I’m not sure I am as patient with my grandchildren
as I should be, or that I was patient with my children the way I should have been. But God listens to our every request and
always answers in a way that is good for our eternal welfare. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for your
patient love and mercy!
A Child of God, Thankful for the patience of God,
Pastor Jonathan
****
P.S. Well, I LOST
my Christmas pictures transferring them from my camera to my computer. But, here are some pictures from our Christmas
I borrowed from others. https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/Christmas2015
P.P.S. Here is a
copy of last week’s fish. https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/IceFishingWinter20152016#6236180359476174642
****
ABOUT
‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am sending these e-mail messages,
hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I
have. (I am regularly adding new names of friends and members – in case
you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.) However, if you
don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave
your name off my list for this message.
****
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