Dad is 81 years young.  My brother, his family, and I had lunch with my mom and dad on Dad’s birthday in July.  We met at a restaurant.  When I sat down at the table, my brother and Dad were talking about purchasing lumber for a new construction project.  My mom immediately chastised my dad about buying lumber he didn’t need.  Dad told Mom he might need to build another barn.  When Mom left the table later to go to the bathroom, Dad confided in us that he was bidding on another section of ranch land and thinking about expanding his herd of cattle. 

At a time when many people would be talking about slowing down or making plans to downsize, my dad is still planning like he is immortal.  Dad doesn’t realize that our culture thinks he should go home and put his feet up in a recliner or watch the sun set from his back porch.  Dad just doesn’t get it. 

Dad grew up believing that a man should work until a man can’t work. 

Last week, Dad fell while working on a construction project.  He landed on a concrete footer and fractured a vertebrae in the center of his back.  Mom (who is visually challenged) drove dad to the emergency room in the neighboring town.  The ER doctor sent dad home with pain medication for two days and told him to rest. 

When my brother and I found out about Dad’s accident, we decided to drive up and check on him.  I thought I was probably being overprotective, but something just seemed a little out of sorts.  The next morning I picked my brother up and drove toward home. 

While my brother and I were driving, my dad decided that he needed to go back and check on his construction project.  Dad was in tremendous pain and was moving “ten times” slower than normal by his own admission, but somehow he shuffled across the street and down two houses to check on the construction project. 

He told mom he needed to check on the project before my brother and I got there because we would be upset with him if we knew he was checking on the project.  At the same time, he assured mom that “when we get old, our kids will take good care of us.”

When we got to Dad’s house, it was evident he was in a lot of pain and needed more medical attention.  Dad didn’t even protest when we told him we thought he needed someone else to look at his back.  His lack of protest confirmed for us how much pain he was experiencing. 

As we followed an ambulance, Mom confessed that dad had checked on the construction project and that he said we would take good care of him when he got old, I found myself thinking “I hope my dad never gets old.” 

I don’t think the number of candles on a cake makes a man old.  My dad doesn’t see himself as old and he keeps right on living like he is a young man. 

I’ll take very good care of Dad if he ever gets old, but today I want to believe that he won’t ever get too old to sneak out to check on a construction project. 

P.S. I won’t be upset if dad sneaks out to check on construction projects, but I think it’s better if he doesn’t know that.  No telling what he would do if he knew we secretly approved of his projects.

Last Friday night, I leaned on the fence at a rural West Texas high school football field and listed to the Seagraves High School Band play Sweet Caroline.  Memories came flooding back of high school band practices and Clifford Offill (pronounced like awful, not Ofield).  If you grew up in Stinnett (in the rural Panhandle of Texas), then you might remember the significance of the song Sweet Caroline. 

On certain years when the band was “good enough,” Mr. Offill would pull out the sheet music for Sweet Caroline.  Then IF (and it was a big if) the band could play the song in a passable fashion, Mr. Offill would have the band perform it at the spring concert.  He would dedicate the song to his wife, Caroline. 

Every time I hear that song, I think of Mr. Offill and the years he spent dedicating his life to teaching kids.  I can’t help but admire who he was and what a difference he made in the lives of generations for students that walked the halls of Stinnett High School. 

My one regret is I never told Mr. Offill how he impacted my life (more on that in another blog) and changed who I became.  One time he told me not to ever teach because if I became a teacher, I would fall in love with the students and never walk away.  He urged me to choose a more logical profession .  .  . a profession with more financial rewards.

Mr. Offill was right.  I made a fatal mistake.  I started teaching.  I’ve never been able to walk away because it does make a difference. 

Make a difference today. 

Tell someone who has been important in your life how much they mean to you. 

One day you won’t be able to tell him or her.

One of the topics I have been asked to speak about is contentment.  I find it ironic that I have been asked to speak on contentment because I have spent a great deal of my adult life pushing forward, reaching for the next goal, the next achievement, the next ring just ahead of me.  I recognize quickly that I am speaking on the topic of contentment because I need to be studying what the Word says about contentment. 

Like many of you have been strongly impacted by living in a culture of discontent that says we should do more, we should be more, we should be like everyone we see in the media.  Our houses should be bigger, our cars should be newer, or our bodies should be more attractive.  The problem with these standards is that the standard is always more.  When we are always reaching for more, we never reach our destination.  Funny, how we have distorted our priorities in chasing what the world wants us to chase. 

God calls us to a different life, to different priorities, to different goals.  Paul understood what God offers us.  In Phillipians 4:11-13, Paul writes “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”  I had heard and read Paul’s statement many times, but I had never connected it with the statement that follows in the next verse, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”  When I connect those two statements, I understand that Paul is content in any situation because he understands that God is in charge and will provide the strength he needs regardless of the situation. 

Like Paul, I need to recognize that God is with me no matter what the situation.  His presence is more important than the situation.  I can be content in whatever situation because it is about the eternal, not the latest fashion or trend.