I wrote the following post two years ago. Time has passed without me even noticing. This post is about A Father’s Day that I’ll never forget. This post came to my mind this morning. I thought about our family coming together to watch a Texas/Georgia college football game. (Yes, they lost that game I’m referring to, but that’s not the point.) That sounds like an everyday occurrence for most families. But we live in Africa. We are thousands of miles away from our children.
Both of our fathers passed away in recent years. I inhaled every word when we were together, took too many pictures, and spent too much money. I repeated that many times. That my children have the wonderful father they have makes me love him more.
It’s Father’s Day morning. We’re up early, getting ready for church. The coffee has been poured, and its aroma fills most of the house. Our little coffee routine is how we love to start our day. I sit here watching Jamie sip his coffee as he has his morning devotions. I’d say slurp, but it is Father’s Day, and I have to be nice. I’m grateful for so much, for the mornings of quiet together and for the years of history we have. I’m grateful for the father he has been to our children. Today is a Father’s Day I’ll not forget.
A good father
What has made Jamie a good father is the fact that he sits with his heavenly Father every day. He knows he can’t do life on his own. His humility has always impressed me. I’m not being effusive in any way, it’s true. God knew our family needed his stability to handle the shifting our lives would face in our moves across Africa.
In a hurry
My natural need to accomplish tasks led me to hurry. I hurried to get up and hurried to get the house in order. When it was lunchtime, I hurried to set the table and clear it when we were done. I was in a perpetual state of trying to get the next task done. Consequently, I didn’t feel accomplished unless my long list of “To Do” items was done.
One morning when we had only been in Africa a few weeks, I woke and found Jamie, as I found him this Father’s Day, in his usual relaxed position, reading his Bible. He was enjoying the morning. In my hurried fashion of those days, I was scurrying around in the kitchen trying to find clean water. Clean water is everything in Africa, especially where we lived at the time (Kalemie, Zaire, now DRC). We were using an old water filter that wasn’t working very well. It took hours for water to pass through its system. If I neglected to fill it in the evening, we wouldn’t have clean water for coffee the next morning.
Oblivious to my angst
You guessed it. On that morning when I found Jamie contentedly reading his Bible, there was no clean water in the filter. This meant there was no clean water for coffee. I stood at the doorway of the kitchen, asking Jamie what we should do. His reply? “Put some water in the filter.” At that moment, I made a few sarcastic comments. None of them phased Jamie. He was oblivious to my angst. Those were interesting times with interesting conversations. 🤣🤣🤣
Now, many a Father’s Day later, I keep finding Jamie in the same position as I found him years ago in Kalemie. He’s sitting with His Father, talking about the upcoming day. It’s his priority. And I have taken the same position next to him, laying my hurrying to the side. This has helped me set my priorities right for the day. Jamie has taught me the value of working from a place of rest. I’m grateful that I no longer have to hurry and can enjoy the same peace my husband does.
Lessons in resting
It hasn’t been easy for me to learn to let go of my need to hurry. And I still don’t tolerate a long list of undone chores to burden my mind. This can be a good thing (think laundry), but it can be a problem in other areas.
Today’s lesson is to stop and work from a place of rest. When we live in an atmosphere of angst (I like that word today) and anxiety, we’ll get less done than if we live purposefully out of God’s rest. Working from a place of rest makes it easier to distinguish between what we need to do and what we feel pressured to do. I’ve found that I’m prone to making poor decisions when I let pressure dictate my actions.
A Father’s Day with our Heavenly Father
Thankfully, Jesus never meant for life to be so pressured that we can’t enjoy life. He died for us to have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). It gives Him no pleasure to see us wringing our hands, feeling out of sorts. It’s time to sit back and let Him give us the wisdom to prioritize things. God can help us prioritize our lives when we sit and spend time with Him, our Heavenly Father, on this Father’s Day and every day.
Matthew 11:29 NKJV "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
You can receive new articles like this by joining the newsletter. I send occasional updates and new writing directly to subscribers.
If this post encouraged you, you’re welcome to partner with me on A Cultural Shift through Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps keep A Cultural Shift’s outreach going. Thank you so much.
Related reading: For more like this, you may enjoy the following:
Learning How to Cross-Country Ski
Pingback: Don’t leave snow in the corner - A Cultural Shift