Small Things
Ray and I got to be home for six days (!) before setting out yesterday morning to drive west to the Texas Home School Coalition convention in Arlington. The day was beautiful. The scenery was, too. Ray treated me to a few hours of off-Interstate drive during the morning.
This was our view, not our vehicle!
We stopped at the Eiffel Tower in Paris — Paris, Tennessee, that is.
We were at home on Sunday so we got to be part of our local church on Sunday morning. As I thought about sharing with you things that happened at church, I remembered a 1962 episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show. I could have actually remembered the original, since I was nine years old in 1962 and we had owned a television set for about 4 or 5 years; but I only remember it in reruns.
In the episode, “A Man’s Teeth Are Not His Own,” the Petries’ next door neighbor Jerry Helper tells Rob he wants to tell him a couple of jokes. Rob is in no mood for joking around. He is feeling very guilty after letting another dentist work on his teeth while Jerry was away at a dental convention.
Rob doesn’t even want to smile because he is afraid that Jerry will find out; so when Jerry starts to tell the jokes, he responds: “Uh . . . Jer . . . I’d . . .d’I’d . . . I don’t think we . . .”
Jerry asks: “What, what?”
Rob responds: “Well, there’s a lot of . . . famine, and drought, and pestilence . . . .”
Well, yes, Rob is right. There is indeed. And we could throw in, “Well, there’s a lot of . . . promiscuity, and rioting, and scandal . . .”
That wasn’t exactly how our minister began his sermon on Sunday morning, but that was the general idea. Then he encouraged us to do this:
Finally, brethren, whatever is true,
whatever is honorable, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute,
if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,
dwell on these things.
Philippians 4:8
If early Christians who faced persecution could think on those things, so can we. As homeschooling mamas, you are busy every day filling your children’s brains with good teaching. We hear about the importance of training children in thinking skills. Philippians 4:8 is the best syllabus for that!
Our church has a kind and elderly elder whose lips overflow with wisdom. Last Sunday it was his turn to say the prayer before the gathering of the weekly collection. Before Brother Fox spoke to God, he spoke to us. He encouraged us to do what our minister had just encouraged us to do and, as this godly man has so many times before, he encouraged us to be grateful. Then, he told us something encouraging to think about.
I have written before about Jamie Dailey, one of our town’s most famous sons. You have probably heard of him if you are a big fan of bluegrass music. Brother Fox told us on Sunday that a man in Florida has given our congregation a very generous donation. The man had asked Jamie Dailey for a suggestion of a church which would be a good recipient of what he wanted to give. Jamie told him that there was no church that he felt closer to than ours.
I left church encouraged. On Monday Ray shared this story at our weekly company meeting. He pointed out the small things that people did when Jamie was growing up in our church and the big blessing that had now come from those small things.
I don’t know all of the small things people did for Jamie Dailey; but I do know that he loved going to Miss Joy’s house to sit on the porch, drink water and lemonade, and listen to stories. I’ve have written about Miss Joy before, too. As far as I know, she is my only 100-year-old daily reader! She told me so herself last Sunday.
On Monday Ray praised us for the small things we do and encouraged us to stay faithful in doing them. As you think about how you are doing as a homeschooling mama and how your children are doing as they grow, remember the small things and think about them with gratitude. You will be blessed if you:
. . . dwell on these things.
Philippians 4:8