~In Praise of God for good Men~
“He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” Psalm 40:2
Knowing and understanding men has me taken a lifetime of learning. Today in my senior years, I am not only joyful, but I stand amazed of how our God has created men. Men have this basic instinct of inbred nature to be Protector and Provider that is created from God’s hand that comes out of the womb. Here lies this precious newborn male baby that will grow up slaying dragons to protect his family and others! And to think, he is doing just what comes naturally. Never before in my life have I been so aware of how God created man in His image. In not knowing my father or having any siblings, my first good experience with the male gender were the times I lived on the farm with my grandparents. My grandfather seemed to gather an understanding about life through caring for his farm animals. He could do no wrong in my eyes. We went everywhere together. I played in the barn while he worked and helped him call in the cows from the pasture to eat and be milked. I tagged along while he slopped the hogs, gathered honey from his hives [I hid behind a tree and watched] and fed the chickens. I sat on his tractor while he plowed row after long rows of his land. He watched over me with such protection that I grew up with very little fear. When he came inside from the evenings chores, he first cleaned up and then collapsed in his rocking chair. Without a word, he would hand me his large comb, to comb his thinning hair as he drifted off to sleep. Other times he would scoop me up in his arms and rock me, as my 4-5 year old head would rest against his chest until I fell asleep. I was loved. My world was very happy and safe on the farm.
One day I was all bundled up and getting ready to walk the 3 long miles of country to school with my “lard bucket” for a lunch box that contained one raw potato and one apple. When I would arrive at the one room school house, the teacher placed the potato inside of the wood stove and by lunchtime I had a lovely baked potato. Best ever! I think I must have been around 7yrs at this time. Back then, all the kids walked to school and thought nothing of it. This particular day was different. I set out and got as far as the sugar maples alongside the driveway. The winter thaw was happening and the dark Michigan soil became mud and I became stuck. Every time I tried to lift one of my boots out of the mud, my feet came out of the boots. What was I going to do? Then, suddenly I heard the tractor start up. My grandfather was watching me all of the time, but I didn’t know it! He came around to where I was and lifted me up out of the mire. My hero! Then to my thrill, he took me to school that day on his tractor.
This is the way our Heavenly Father watches over us. Every single minute while we are here and most of the time we are not aware of it.
Take time to listen to this tape, there is such truth in these words. Some of us have come a long ways.
Stay tuned. There will be a continuation of this article.
No comments:
Post a Comment