Recycle

Recycle

” No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5)

I grew up in the 40’s and 50’s with practical parents. A mother, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then re-used it. A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. They were the original re-cycle geeks before they had a name for it.

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, casual shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, iron in one hand and dish towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, a screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress…the things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All the re-fixing, eating leftovers, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there’d always be more.

But then they died and in the warmth of hospital rooms, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn’t any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away. So while we have it, it is best we love it, care for it, fix it when it’s broken, and heal it when it’s sick.

This is true for marriages, old cars, children with bad report cards, dogs with bad hips, and aging parents and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it and because we are worth it. Some things we keep: a best friend that moved away or a classmate from high school or college.

Family and good friends are like stars. You don’t always see them, but you know they are always there. There are just some things that make life important. People we know who are special, so we keep them close.

YOU ARE A “KEEPER” AND I CHOOSE TO KEEP YOU CLOSE!

Lord, bless us to love each other, forgive and hold on to each other in times of plenty and times of lack.

AMEN

I love you,

Dad

Excerpt from "Your Dad Wants To Bless You: Monday Morning Blessings" by Bill and Jennifer Crain