“In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes food? Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.” Job 12:10–13
Last year, I began to intentionally share with my grandkiddo’s, what life was like back in the day of my life when I was their age. Here and there as a snippet of history made its way into my memory that I either shared it vocally or via text message. If you notice, I didn’t use the word ‘wisdom’. I grew up on a farm in eastern Nebraska just north of Ruby in Seward County. We had electricity, one phone in the house attached to the wall in the kitchen on a party line. When it rang three times my mom picked it up. We had indoor plumbing in the kitchen and a sink by the back door that dad used to wash up when he came in the house. We had an outhouse close to the swing set and it was cold in the winter. No television or internet; only a radio. No air conditioning, just a box fan in a window. Our furnace in the basement burned corncobs, wood and coal. My parents milked twenty cows two times every day and sold the milk to a dairy. We didn’t go on a vacation every year. Once in a while mom and dad would put my sister and me in the back seat of the car and we would drive to the drive-in movie theater on West “O” in Lincoln and watch a movie and eat popcorn. There were no fast food chains, no pizza, Chinese or Mexican food available. We ate food from our garden and meat from our farm animals or what dad had brought back from hunting along the creek. I was born in 1950 and times were different then. My mom made many of my clothes and cut my hair.
My grandchildren look at me and probably think that I grew up living in the Old Testament. At times recently, I feel like I did. Back in the day, when I lived in Haiti, the children in the attached photo lived a life without many of the things that I had on the farm. Their lives were in many ways were more like what my grandparents’ lives experienced in the 1920’s. There is one thing that my grandkids and these kids from Haiti, my grandparents, parents, sister and me have in common; we know Jesus, love Him and talk with Him each and every day.
As I grow older it has become more important that my grandkids learn about my lineage, embrace the perceived hardships they experienced and proceed through their lives giving thanks to God for how He has provided, protected and cared for them. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today, please take some time to stop and reflect as yet another day gets flipped on your calendar of life. As you ‘number your days, do you count just years or can you find marks of wisdom in your memories of your living history that were not there when you were younger; yesterday? Please, take a closer look. You really don't have a lot longer. And in the time that is left, please prayerfully consider feeding one of these Haitian children a meal prepared through Trinity HOPE. You will be helping them create a moment in their living history.
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay