Scripture Passage:  “And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”  Ephesians 6:4

Dear Friends,

     The celebration of Father’s Day causes us to remember and appreciate our Dads and all they have done for us.  Some will remember in the past tense because their dad has passed away.  Some will remember in the present tense because their dad is still alive.  I hope we will all take time to appreciate their contribution and sacrifice in providing for us as well as helping to make us the person we are today.  Everyone has a biological dad and a physical dad.  We also have a spiritual dad.  Sometimes they are all the same – sometimes they are not.  Some of the greatest dads have not fathered the child they are raising.  Many dads are good at teaching their children to hunt, fish and whittle, but uncomfortable addressing spiritual issues.  There are no flawless dads, but a few come pretty close. 

     My dad is an outdoorsman, farmer, carpenter, and soldier.  He is also a repairman and inventor.  If dad cannot fix it you might as well throw it away.  His natural and favorite habitation is the woods.  Most people did not think he would ever come out of the woods long enough to find a girl.  One day my dad viewed my mother from a distance while sitting on a tractor seat.  He ran the tractor into the fence on purpose so he could go to the house she just went in to get a pair of pliers.  The rest is history.  They married in 1958 and began “housekeeping.”  My sister was born in 1959, I was born in 1961, and my brother in 1968.  In November they will celebrate their 60^th wedding anniversary. 

     Dad is much more than a carpenter, he is a craftsman.  His dad built houses and barns before the days of power tools.  When Ms. Julie Johnson introduced him to the turning lathe, dad’s love of woodworking took off and flourished and he began to purchase the tools necessary to perfect his trade.  He built many houses in his lifetime.  He built the house I grew up in as well as my brother’s to name a few.  Most of the time he did every aspect of the work from beginning to end.  I never knew him to contract his work by the job, he worked by the hour.  He said people knew he was a man of his word and he would give them an honest day’s work for their pay.  So the standard was set and the code of ethics established by which I was raised.  He is still a hard worker and a man of his word.

     I can do carpenter work, but I never enjoyed it the way dad does.  He taught me a lot that I use in keeping my house maintained, but the thing we shared the most is the love of the dirt. We labored together working ground, raising tobacco, and occasionally a crop of corn.  We got along the best when we were working together on the farm.  He and I made one of the best teams in a tobacco field you ever saw.  I cut and he speared the tobacco and no one could beat us to the end of the row or be more productive at the end of the day. It meant a lot to be associated with my dad when people would say, “You just can’t beat Ken and Johnny in a tobacco field. 

     Finally, my dad is a patriot and a soldier.  I was always so proud to see pictures of my dad in his army uniform.  Momma still displays the picture of him in his dress uniform in the living room.  (I think she still considers him handsome.) Dad reads the paper every day and watches the evening news to keep up with local, national, and world affairs.  He is much more informed about current events than I am.  If I need to know something about these events, I just ask my dad.  He is a part of the “Old School,” and I am proud to call him dad.  Happy Father’s Day Pap. 

In Christ,

Pastor Johnny