Early on after his open-heart surgery, we were a little disappointed to learn that there was a portion of his heart they just couldn't get to (boy there's a sermon illustration for you), so he came out with three bypasses and a new valve which is actually "slightly used" since it is a bovine (read "cow") valve.
Well Dad hasn't been put out to pasture (look- that's a joke... you know, playing off the bovine - oh never mind) but he has been out of it for awhile.
He spent a great deal of the past few weeks in something of a stupor - mostly sleeping.
He has communicated with us and knew his family (even in-laws) but often times his speech was very weak and he has spoken with closed eyes.
There have been some good days when he was more alert but they often led to him being agitated and then he would sleep again.
Last week he had a couple of back-to-back bad days, one in which he just slept all day.
Then he seemed to turn around. He has been allowed to eat again and that seems to have put some life back into him.
Yesterday and today he was very alert, sitting up for a time today and eating well. Yesterday, he picked up a train of thought that he had been ruminating before his last heart episode.
He offered AA, five 5-dollar bills to read the New Testament through by Christmas.
Dad had been thinking along those lines before he entered the hospital. He had told Mom he would like to go into one of the younger Sunday School classes and offer a cash-prize for Bible reading.
Dad was never much for encouraging involvement in sports... he usually based his opposition to organized sports programs on two foundational issues: Finances and Freedom.
"They are just after your money" - he would say. I remember pricing football equipment in the sixth grade - just sort of dreaming - and I saw that Dad was right.
Dad used the same argument about Boy Scouts: you know, you have to buy the handbook, the uniform, all that gear and camping equipment.
The other argument was "Freedom". We didn't get involved in organized sports very much because "we might take a notion to go to Granny and Pop's house in Griffin". Dad like to do some things spontaneously and he didn't want some game to stand in our way.
But now the Bible, that was another thing. Dad wanted to encourage us to read it. And he didn't mind using finances or freedom to bring that about.
Much like he did with the offer to AA and with similar offers recently to Ab, Dad at times offered my siblings and me money for reading certain portions of the Bible.
Other times Dad required Bible reading.
When I was in the seventh and eighth grade in LaFayette, Georgia, our Junior High School had burned (it happened before I ever moved there). So we shared the High School: high schoolers attended until noon and junior highers attended from about 1:00 until 6:00.
There were pro's and con's to that setup. The main positive being that I could sleep late every day.
Dad, who was not a big fan of children sleeping too late or watching too much television, set forth an edict that I had to read a certain amount of scripture before I could turn on the television. I don't remember the exact amount, but I settled into a pattern of reading 3 Psalms each day before hitting the tube.
And I was pretty faithful to that. Since I concentrated on the latter part of the Psalms (shorter), I tended to read Psalm 127 a lot. I can still quote most of it -"Except the Lord build the house; they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early and to sit up late...."
Some may think that it trivializes the Word of God to pay people to read it. Or perhaps children would rebel against being forced to read before activating the television each day. But I don't think it had either of those effects on me.
I think that year or so of patterned reading developed into something of a discipline. I still want to start each day with the Word. And some of those Psalms that became so familiar to me then, became anchor points for me during (and after) the stormy teenage years.
Dad knew that we kids would need that bedrock of strength. I am glad he did. I am also glad to see that his mind is quick enough now to remember the importance of God's Word and the value of instilling an appreciation for it in the hearts of children.
Before his protracted stay in the hospital, Dad was nearing the end of his second journey through the entire Bible this year.
The children in my family were blessed with a spiritual "one-two punch" for parents. Dad gave us the discipline of the Word; Mom taught us the precious practicality of the Word. It is for every moment, every situation, every day of our life.
As I look back, I was able to pick up some opportunities to participate in a few organized sports programs as I got older; and though I did very little scouting - AA is now a fledgling "Tiger Cub" on his way to his "Bobcat Badge". So I am in no wise bitter - on the contrary - I was given a treasure of eternal proportions.
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