A SON TALKS TO HIS FATHER

Well, it's Friday. My inlaws are due this afternoon. Dad's 80 and Mom's 78. Dad's a minister, like Milton, and he's speaking at the Men's Breakfast tomorrow at church. On Sunday, Father's Day, Milton will be preaching on "A Son Talks to His Father," and plans to include an interview with Dad. On Mother's Day, I spoke on "A Mother Talks to Her Daughters." I set the stage up to look like a TV interview, and my two beautiful daughters and I dialogued in an interview format. People really enjoyed it, they told us. Jennifer, our younger daughter who lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico, recently had a deep spiritual experience and talked about it. Julie talked about the importance of making good choices in our lives--since she's made a few bad ones (she admitted). Jennifer blogs about her experience and ongoing life with an atheist husband. In case you'd like to read her blog, it's found at:
http://its-all-about-him.blogspot.com

(However, she's been in Florida for a month and hasn't blogged, but will resume when she gets back to PR and settled.)

I'm looking forward to Sunday and hearing what the two have to say. Dad and Mom Dykes raised five children, and four of them are in the ministry. In fact, in the Dykes-Roberts (my maiden name) family, we have nearly 30 ministers and wives! When we get together, it's like a preachers' convention. We talk about the Lord, sing hymns and choruses, chit chat about church doings, and of course have fun. Oh, we also eat. Church people do that a lot! Church people are the best cooks in the entire world. The only thing we don't do when we get together is take up an offering! That's sort of a joke. Everybody knows preachers love to take up offerings! Haha.

Dad Dykes always said parents don't get report cards until the kids are over 25. That's a wise thought. In other words, through the teen years, keep insisting on your kids doing right no matter how much they ballyhoo and argue. One day, they'll be glad you did. It's been that way with our girls. They didn't like some of the choices we made for them when they were teenagers, and sometimes they balked, etc., but now that they're adults, they're both serving the Lord and putting Him first. That's what counts. The Bible says, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart."

Why did I say all this? How does this relate to Christian love stories? This Sunday at our church, we'll see a Christian love story lived out. A father and a son. Following after God. Putting Christ first in their lives. Influencing countless people for the Lord.

Thank You, Lord.