Sunday Stories, June 18, 2017

You’ll Always Have Plan ‘B’

Life is really hard. I was raised in a great home, taken to church, to the alter, taught what it was for. Mom and dad modeled humility in word and deed. They walked daily with Christ, always facing the Throne of God. If they had moments of doubt or lacked faith, I never knew. Still……..their child was a sinner. Parental salvation doesn’t cover one’s off-spring. Mom and dad could not provide a world where I would not need grace. I had free will and wasn’t afraid to use it. Consequently, life got really hard from time to time.

It just so happens that all four children of James B. and Sandra J. Jones became incredibly decent people. The grands are shaping up quite nicely too! So, in honor of this Father’s Day I’m going to let you peek through the window of my past and see what Mr. and Mrs. JBJ did right in a world full of wrongs.

On the back side of our front door you will find children that received discipline. Inappropriate behavior was addressed, “You aren’t going to get far in life acting like that. Do better or life won’t be kind.” Their response to selfishness: “You won’t treat people like that (specifically each other) and sit at our table.” As unpopular as it is today, mom and dad lived putting God first, others next and themselves last. Their children lined up at the end beside them. Obviously it wasn’t fatal.

Love never failed. Mom and dad remain dedicated to each other and the higher calling they heard as young people. It isn’t that they fell ‘in love’, it’s that THEY LOVE.

The future is the point of life. Never have my parents relished in the glory days of their children’s achievements. If one of them catches you and holds you captive to their bragging, it will concern where we are headed, not where we’ve been. There’s a lot to do to leave the world better than we found it. They are our encouragers and cheerleaders, but what was won’t get you where you’re going.

And still………bad things happened……to each one of us. Sometime our choices were detrimental to our well being, sometimes a sinful world took its toll. In either case, their grace did not cover us. We had to be broken in spirit and humbled, then healed and molded in the likeness of a humble, broken, healed and victorious Christ. Their testimony tells that it was hard to resist becoming our god and fixing things as best an earthly parent could. They made the conscious choice to let God be God, lead us to Him and let His miraculous mercy do in us what it had done in them. This is singularly their greatest act of faith. I know this because, I am a parent of adult children.

Finally, what did the best parents on earth do when their children grew, left and made homes of their own? Since I know them I will tell you. They assured us that we always have plan ‘B.’ Plan ‘B’ is simply this. You will never, NEVER, be alone. There will always be respite in your father’s house, the porch light is always on. It’s not an invitation to exploit generosity, just a juniper tree, a safe shade to restore strength and joy so that we will remain strong until that day when we are all together for eternity.

Mom and Dad I love you!

Happy Father’s Day 2017,

Gretchen