Like Father, Like Son

Whoopie!  Fiver and I got to take our normal long walk this morning after two days of very cold and very wet weather.  Sure, it was raining this morning, but it was a lot lighter and the temps had increased to the upper 30’s!  After five years in North Carolina and a combined four here in Oklahoma, I think that I am beginning to toughen up and shed my old California attitude when I would complain if the winter weather dropped into the low 50’s!

As I walked across the breezy parking lot of our local Neighborhood Walmart later this morning, wearing my heavy San Francisco Giants hoodie and jeans… complete with long johns, of course… I had to stop and take a deep breath in the briskness of the moment and admit how good the beginning of winter felt at that particular moment in time!

I was telling my sister last week that I am enjoying it out here and how Oklahoma really feels like home to me now.  She had sent me some pictures of the destruction that the latest round of fires in northern California had caused around their home in Oakmont, an upscale retirement housing development situated between the towns of Santa Rosa and Sonoma in the heart of the wine country. 

I realized as I looked at the pictures and thought about the even worse fire a couple of years back, that I would hardly recognize Piper’s and my old stomping grounds!  The previous fire had destroyed complete neighborhoods within a few blocks of our church and the home that we had lived in for nine years, previous to moving out here in 2006.

The region in which we now live as part of the greater Tulsa metropolitan area, is very different from our home in northern California.  Instead of grape vine covered hills, it’s flat for as far as the eye can see.  But I had made up my mind before I left North Carolina (which reminded me of my home county in California… exchanging pine trees for redwoods) that I was going to learn to enjoy Oklahoma for its own history and unique beauty… and you know?  I do!

The completely different weather, the culture, the great pride that the people seem to take for their city and state, along with the friendliness of its residents won me over in rapid succession!  I live about a mile north of Broken Arrow High School and enjoy listening to their state championship band as they practice out on the football stadium almost every night and the roar of the crowds when the varsity football team plays a home game.  Having no professional football teams in the state makes high school and college football a BIG deal out here!  With an enrollment of close to 4000 students, the high school has a large and beautiful campus and a football stadium that makes our Junior College stadium in my hometown look pathetic!  When you walk into any Super Walmart in Broken Arrow, one of the first things you’ll see is an array of official fan clothing for the Broken Arrow High School Tigers sports teams.

In Psalm 40:1-2 the Psalmist declares, “I waited and waited and waited some more, patiently, knowing God would come through for me….  Now he’s lifted me up into a firm, secure place and steadied me while I walk along his ascending path.” (The Passion Translation)

I know that I still have a way to go… but I am definitely beginning to feel that the Lord has finally lifted me up into a firm place and steadied me here in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma… as I continue to focus on His directions for me and walk closely with Him along His ascending path.  There is a Southern Gospel song called “I can’t even walk without holding His hand.”  The song talks about the mountains and the valleys in life that we have to walk and of how often we need the Lord to take our hands and guide us on our way.

I feel a close kindship to that song as I know that I could have never made it to this place without His firm grip on my hands!  I sort-of-figure that this is why I liked to hold Piper’s hand so much… and especially during the last few years of her life.  What’s that saying… “Like father, like son?”  I had promised her early on as we faced the Alzheimer’s diagnosis, that I would never leave her alone and always be at her side throughout it all, and holding her hand as much as I could seem to act as a visible sign of my commitment to her.

So, if you’ve got  problem or are facing a seemingly unsurmountable mountain or valley in your life today… my suggestion would be to reach out and take the hand of the Lord and let Him lift you up into a firm, secure place where you’ll find steady footing while walking along the ascending path that He has designed specifically for you.

 

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