Good Tools Handed Down

Dad and me back in the day. Nothing like the grip of a father's arms...Selah.

Originally published October 2016

Yesterday started out like many a Saturday morning around the homestead: Up early because I have farmer's blood in my veins, some rugged coffee, a check of the headlines and a good dose of some good Words, a hearty breakfast where the locals hang out, then off to the recycling center, the hardware store, and a bunch of other chores around the house. I used to think I had to defend this satisfying routine whenever anyone asked "so, what did you do this weekend?" But no more. It's good to rest in the fact that life doesn't have to be complex and busy to be simply good.

But in the midst of the beautiful routine yesterday came an unusual jolt of a beautiful "and to remind you." A gray and damp late fall day, with most of the hardwoods partially naked except for a scattering of yellows and browns, and woodsmoke in the air, somehow brought me back several decades to Saturday mornings with dad. This is where and how he spent his Saturday mornings, too, complete with pipe smoke and the aroma of sawdust from his workshop where he had seemingly endless fix-its and cool projects. Even at that grade school age, I learned many lifetime lessons and habits by watching what dad did, and how he did it. Never really got the hang of being adept at fix-its and projects, but I know the reason I have a clean desk at work at the end of the day is because on dad's workbench, every nail type had its can, and every screw its jar so that he'd know just where to find what he needed the next time.

And to keep the routine and fix-its and projects straight, dad always had a list. Sometimes, there'd be a lengthy list near his workbench, with most of the items crossed off. A few long-range tasks remained. And so, whether on paper, on a laptop doc, or in my head, to this day there is nothing like that universally felt rush of accomplishment whenever I can cross something of "the list."

But amidst the damp fall morning, the routine, the sawdust, and orderly workbench and lists, also came a reminder of how dad followed Jesus in a very practical and meaningful way, and how he modeled being a servant to God and others long before I understood what that meant. Because there are some things in life for which dad made a list that were never meant to be crossed off or erased, but to be walked out over and over again.

Things Jesus said and did.

Things He said and did only because His Father was saying and doing them.

Things His first followers saw Him do in the routine of their days, and wrote down for our benefit for the routine of our days some 2000 years later.

Things dad embraced, just like he felt the arms of his Father around him in the day-to-day.

Things like this:

• "Love others well, and don’t hide behind a mask; love authentically.
• "Despise evil; pursue what is good as if your life depends on it.
• "Live in true devotion to one another, loving each other as sisters and brothers.
• "Be first to honor others by putting them first.
• "Do not slack in your faithfulness and hard work.
• "Let your spirit be on fire, bubbling up and boiling over, as you serve the Lord.
• "Do not forget to rejoice, for hope is always just around the corner.
• "Hold up through the hard times that are coming, and devote yourselves to prayer.
• "Share what you have with the saints, so they lack nothing;
• "Take every opportunity to open your life and home to others."

(Romans 12:9-13, The Voice)

Good tools handed down...and passed along as a baton...