And I usually hang up on him, ask a stranger to help me, and eventually call Dad back to apologize and cry about the dozen other things that had gone wrong that day. And even though I do sometimes wish my dad would have shown me a little more about cars, he spent a lot of his time showing me things much more important.
We didn't always have a lot of money growing up - my parents spent the first year or so of marriage in a trailer - but even on a military salary, my dad found a way to give back. Sometimes that meant coaching a baseball team (even if my brother hated it) or putting a little bit in the offering plate at church. Before I entered high school, my dad retired from the Army and started a new job that paid quite a bit more than we were ever used to. And although my dad spent a lot of that hard earned money spoiling my family, he also spent a lot of it giving back to people he cared about.
I was recently asked what two characteristics I value most in a person. I answered, "honesty and generosity." My dad is the epitome of those two characteristics. And he valued those characteristics in others as well. He tried to be intentional about the people he gave to - he wanted to have a relationship with them.
He gave to Miss Martha in downtown Petersburg and she called him Santa Claus when he brought children's toys each Christmas. The homeless and poverty-stricken men around his construction sites for his town homes knew him by name and often worked for him for a few extra dollars. He always found work for the handicapped men who came and asked for it. He tried to be intentional about who he gave to, but he didn't always know if the money he gave would be used for good. He had faith in Miss Martha and knew she had a heart for giving, but some of the men admitted that they spent the money earned on alcohol. It was disappointing, but he kept employing them, talking with them, loving them. He continues to give. Sometimes to people you might not think deserve it (including my brother and me). He never thinks twice about it anymore - he just gives.
This Sunday we heard Jesus tell the parable of the seed sower (4:26-29). He scattered seed and left it. He didn't tend it, he didn't worry himself over it, he didn't toil in the dirt with it. He just scattered the seed and left it. He went to sleep and woke up and the seed had spouted. Eventually, ripe fruit came from the seed that was scattered. So the man took his sickle and harvested because it was ready.
See, that's what my dad has always shown me. We are called to sow good seeds. There's no need to worry ourselves over whether they will produce good fruit - God will take care of all of that. We just have to go out there and sow. It's what my dad has done his entire life, expecting nothing in return, he has provided for my family, given to those in need, stepped up when he wasn't even asked to. And he never worried about whether my brother and I would grow up to be the perfect adults or if we would go to seminary or work in a casino or know how to fix a car. He just gave and let God handle the rest.
