Miss-Quotes

Political ads are creeping in to all kind of unsuspecting places. Both sides are doing it so there is lots of blame to spread around. On a social media site there have been what at first looks like quotes from President Abraham Lincoln. The wording however is very modern English and sounds like a certain political view.  

This is nothing new as people have put words in the mouths of long dead people who can not defend themselves for thousands of years. People write down things they wished the ancient hero had said and apply it as a quote. Then others copy and reuse the miss-quote until it seems real.

One very ancient miss-quote is people say that the bible says; “God helps those who help themselves.” That is no where to be found in the bible but a lot of people believe that it is because it has been miss-quoted so often. We want to believe these things so we accept them with out checking and pass them on as real.

In this political season with the country so divided and so far apart we need to be aware and do a lot of  fact checking. Before I use or repost anything I need to ask my self, “Is this real?”   It may very well be what I want to be real but if it is not real I should not pass it along. 

Life Changing Moments

Father’s Day had me thinking about the births of my darling daughters. Both of them were life changing moments for me. I have not been the same person since.

The year was 1969 the day that the first men to land on the moon splashed down on July 24^th a momentous day. We lived in Smithville Texas where I was Pastor at First Christian Church. At one minute after midnight Katherine Ann Groh came screaming into the world. No doubt indignant at being evicted from her comfortable abode for the previous nine months. When the nurse handed her to me she was still screaming. I looked into her beautiful eyes and my life changed. I said, “It is alright Katherine your daddy loves you.” She became quiet and looked up at me and smiled.

Now I had known that I would be a parent/father but at that moment I became a daddy. As I looked at her all I could think of was to be the best daddy for her that I could be. It was not always easy but that is still my goal to this day. She is now a mother of my adult grandson William and I am very proud of my eldest darling daughter.

My youngest darling daughter was born in Fort Worth where I was in Seminary at Texas Christian University. It was Christmas Eve of 1972 and her mother went into labor and after the Christmas Eve service we headed to the hospital. Laura Lea Groh was born one minute before midnight. These two are sisters in many ways but Laura was quiet from the beginning. When I held her for the first time it was the same feeling as before. Here was a girl that depended on me to be the best daddy possible. I felt the love and adoration for her and still do. As I told her how much I loved her I felt an intense sense of pride she was now a part of my life.

One of my dedications to my baby daughters was to be the kind of daddy that when they became adults they would be happy to be my daughters and that our relationship would be filled with love and joy. They changed my life and I am the better man for it.

Accepting and Offering Forgiveness

As those forgiven by God, we are called to exercise forgiveness. 

As those grace by God, we are called to extend grace. 

Sometimes we ourselves have the greatest need for forgiveness and grace to experience freedom. We may struggle with accepting God’s forgiveness or offering forgiveness to another precisely because we have never been able to forgive ourselves. We know it is the same with grace:  we find it hard to struggle with grace because we find it hard to extend grace to ourselves and others.