Seek the Seeds

I love American History!  This love of American History came from the passion that my 7th grade American History teacher possessed and infused in my life at Greenacres Junior High School in Bossier City, LA.  Mrs. Ray, had an unusual teaching style that ignited the passion of remembering otherwise tedious dates in history and actually making me want to know those dates and be able to put them on my tests correctly.  The last thing I wanted to do was disappoint her by forgetting or not knowing.  Mrs. Ray taught me ways to memorize all of our President’s in order by using the “Who Are Jolly Mighty Men…” memorization technique.  The first letter in every word was the first letter of the President’s last name.  Thank You…I did make a 100% on that test…thank you!  She had a remarkable style of presentation of history.  One time, she climbed her stool and with one foot atop her desk and the other on the stool, re-enacted George Washington crossing the Delaware River.  I can remember thinking, “She is crazy…she is fun…I like history…this is cool!” She always had a smile that lit up the room!  See for yourself…

I can remember that same passion when she covered the different wars, the different legislation, the things that make this country what it is today.  She is one of my favorite teachers to this very day!  Why?  Because I find myself teaching my kids some of the same things she taught me.  I can see her passion light up my kid’s eyes when I talk about the things she taught me.  They don’t even know her!  But they do know her passion for American History.

Like Mrs. Ray, Solomon was one of the wisest men in history and had a passion for passing down his wisdom to the next generation.  In fact, he wrote the Proverbs for his son to pass down the wisdom God had given him.  One of the Proverbs that he penned reminded me of Mrs. Ray’s history class.  It is found in Proverbs 8:10-11 and it reads,

Choose my instruction rather than silver and knowledge rather than pure gold.  For wisdom is more valuable than rubies.  Nothing you desire can compare with it.

Instruction, knowledge and wisdom are directly compared as more valuable than what the free market deems as valuable.  Silver, gold and rubies are monetarily valuable and typically signify great wealth.  However, Solomon says that nothing compares to having attributes in one’s character that can be passed down from generation to generation versus something that is as fleeting as wealth.

In today’s society, people have bought into the false belief that their value is attached to their pay stub.  God says that true value lies in one’s character and knowledge.  Those building blocks are what produces the monetary value that will enable you to take care of your financial obligations. In today’s world, people want the easy way out and to only have the fruit minus the labor.  All they want is the fruit…not the hassle.   It seems as though people have forgotten to seek those things that will continue to produce fruit rather than the fruit itself.  We need to seek the seeds that will produce for a lifetime. Seek the way to get fruit for a lifetime and even for your kid’s lifetime.  Long term planning should be further out than your nose is long.

The old adage lies true today…

In what ways are you seeking knowledge, instruction and wisdom?

Do you have someone who has invested in you and planted seeds that are still producing today?  If so, thank them.  Write them a letter, give them a phone call, let them know of the deposit they have put into your life.

Challenge:  Ask someone close to you to describe your character to you…evaluate their thoughts and make additions or subtractions.

Where Never is Heard, a Discouraging Word…

Each Summer our family would load up the family station wagon and head out on vacation.  It is one of our family values that there are many lessons that can be learned while riding with your family in a car across this great land of ours!  There are lessons in tolerance, patience, kindness, anger, warfare tactics, medical preparedness, comedy, rest, roadside dining, Americana, respect, music, teamwork, and that is to just name a few.  We would ride down the road singing together…boy that was a choir performance that I was glad wasn’t recorded.

One trip in particular, we loaded up and headed out to the Rocky Mountains.  We sang Home on the Range until we were sick of that song.  But I loved it. My grandparents were with us on this trip and this is where I learned my love of fishing for rainbow trout.  My grandfather loved to fish.  He made it his mission to pass that down to me and my brother.  We would wake up, get dressed and go get the rods, a stringer and bottle of salmon eggs and head out to catch our dinner.  We would try to stay as close to my papaw as possible to learn what he knew about the rainbow trout.  He would encourage us to find our own hole and fish it.  While sitting on a log watching our lines, he would talk to me.  You know, things that were a variety of topics.  Just passing time together.  Fishing.  He taught me how to unhook a fish and then put it on a stringer.  He taught me how to clean the fish, bread it, and fry it up for the family dinner.  Those were the best fish I have ever eaten!  The greatest lesson I learned those days was the lesson of encouragement.

The Range

My grandfather was an encourager.  He would get frustrated at times while I was wearing out his nerves with questions.  However, he never once didn’t answer.  He never once seemed as if he didn’t enjoy the time fishing.  He never once told me to shut my pie hole!  What I saw modeled that day was someone who had the love of Christ in them that also was willing to endure incredible amounts of questions fired at a rapid pace when we were supposed to be quiet…and fish!  Paul said it this way in 1 Thessalonians 5:11,

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

He built me up.  I guess now, I have kind of taken this task to hand.  My youngest daughter plays softball.  She is on a team that plays some tournaments from time to time.  Depending upon the tournament, we can either be the best team or we could be the middle of the pack or the team that is two and out.  This past weekend, we were in a tournament and made it to the Final Four teams.  At that point, we made our exit.  We finished 4th Place and really did it with flair.  We played about as poorly as we could have.  Of course, the previous 5 games didn’t hurt our effort…they were tired and hot.  I was talking with another parent and this particular parent was telling me how they were kind of disappointed in their daughter’s play for the tournament.  Keep in mind that these girls are 7-8 year olds.  I made the statement,

We can take this down two roads with our girls.  One we can tell them we are disappointed in their play or, we can tell them that they should be proud they finished 4th place in a tournament with good teams.  We can crush their spirit after they just played 6 games and gave all they had or we can tell them how proud we are of them for doing their best at all times.  I am going to focus on the positives rather than the inconsistencies.

Fortunately, this parent agreed and I actually heard them saying some of the same things we had just talked about to their daughter.  It was a great moment and the smile on their daughter’s face was irreplaceable.

This same attitude of building up one another was on display on my son’s baseball team.  This is Cole’s first season of playing baseball.  While he has a great time playing, he still is learning the game.  Cole got an incredible hit the other night in his game.  It was a double to the gap and yes, this an unashamed bragging on my kid moment.  It was a hit so hard, that he won the honors of receiving a game ball at the end of the game.  Until this night, all he had been doing is striking out, walking or getting hit by a pitch…however, this night…it all clicked.  You be the judge as to what it did for him…

One for the Gapper

What would happen if we all would begin to build each other up in life rather than focus on the negative?  What would happen if our life song would be Home on the Range…where never is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day?  What would you feel like if someone had something nice to say to you?  How would someone else respond if you said something encouraging to them?  Will you make it a point to be an encourager today, this week, this month?  Will you give someone a Daniel 10:19 moment this week?

“Don’t be afraid,” he said, “for you are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!” As he spoke these words to me, I suddenly felt stronger and said to him, “Please speak to me, my lord, for you have strengthened me.”