When in the early morn awake, slumber from your eyelids shake.
Hasten to thy closet fare, Begin the day in humble prayer.
Thank Him for the day at hand, and the sun so bright and grand.
Ask for care through early hour, And for strength and serving power.
The morning hours have passed so soon, now the sun is high at noon.
Hasten to thy closet fare, Sustain the day in earnest prayer.
Thank Him for His care and power, and the peace of early hour.
Ask Him for sufficient grace, to end the day at normal pace.
Oh, the day has passed so fast, as darkness spreads its hovering cast.
Hasten to thy closet fare, End the day with grateful prayer.
Oh, the days they come and go, Peace and war with friend and foe.
But the one who hastens fare, to his closet in petitioning prayer.
Is the one who stands abreast, and wins the victory of trial and test?
Life is one big cross to bear, Bear it strong-in fervent prayer.
I found this poem in dads things. It’s time (after a couple years) to share the thoughts of a man of God trying to grow through all life’s struggles. I still hear his voice sometimes and I turn around in the old shop to ask him where he put….???
This is how I remember my father. I have spent much of my life on my own journey, yet, experiencing the presence, power and sometimes the absence (feeling) of an ever present God who enjoys and rewards one drawing near.
Standing on the promises here in the woods Dad…bye for now. I’ll be along in a while.
I got run over by a 1600 pound steer. It’s true. Not as glamorous a story as Grandma and the reindeer but this steer was 5 times as big as any reindeer. I’m quite sure no song like “Grandma got run over by a reindeer” will come of it either. I’m OK, thanks for asking. The hooves missed me after a good head butt to send me flying and then run over the top of me.
I had agreed to drive two hours to bring a steer to market for a brother. It was an easy job. Just drive the rig, back up the trailer and let the steer out into the chute. Easy. Two experienced professionals took it from there after backing the trailer tight with the open chute door. They opened the trailer door. The steer ran out of the trailer and up the chute a few feet while the professionals closed the trailer door and shut the chute gate.
All of this looked easy. I was ready to walk away, get in the truck and drive away. As I innocently stood at the mouth of the closed gate, the big angry steer charged at one of the attendants. The steer hit the side of the chute and made an opening at the end of the gate. One moment I was standing in front of where the gate closes and the next moment, I was in front of the opening. The massive animal saw the small opening and charged right through. His big head caught me in the chest and tossed me into a perfect back flip. I landed a skidding bellyflop onto the gravel driveway. I imagined my guardian angel and a couple other angels just watching and holding up signs…they were giving me a straight 10! Then the massive steer ran over the top of me, hooves pounding on each side of my face. Thankfully no hooves mashed me. Physically speaking, I felt f.f.f.fine.
My body was sore in places where I didn’t even know I had places. Some odd memories were coming to me. I now believe those who tell about their whole life flashing before them in less than a second during a near death experience. As I was flying through the air, I remember pieces of my disjointed thoughts, “I’m never traveling to Pamplona to run with the bulls”. Something did not feel right thinking of communion in church…”this is my body broken for you…” my mind fragmented more than my body. I vividly remember dads voice saying, “this is a teachable character moment son”. Mom’s voice said “oh my!” I thought…nothing, just flashes of life and lots of accidents and “oh, this is going to hurt!”
At days end. Evaluating life might be a good thing.
Some changes have taken place. mostly in my heart and mind. living, dying, accidents or just an odd happening does so instantly. I mean, what unforeseeable accident happens slowly? I’ve been shying away from parts of my morning prayer, mostly where I pray “well Lord, what do you have for me today?” this is my version of “thy will be done” when quoting the Lord’s Prayer. I am very open to praying differently if you have other ideas. I find myself talking to God like Moses at the burning bush; “here I am Lord, please send Aaron.” I’m quite sure my default prayers should include needing more wisdom. Maybe I should think carefully about standing in front of doors that life can smash through and affect not only me but future generations. I also realized I wanted to be the kind of person the world would truly miss and God would want me to be, should the next accident that comes my way send me into eternity.
Both Dad and mom used to talk about the unseen character of one’s life. They were firm believers in using almost anything for teachable character moments in developing seven children’s worth of character growth. They used those times that came upon us suddenly to show us the kind of person we really were. When someone hits their thumb with a hammer while pounding in a nail, true character seems to show itself. When we were wrongly accused, our character was on display. When we were given too much change back after a purchase, we were sent back into the store. All of us siblings have plenty of teachable character moment stories.
With this steer incident, God got my attention. Some old song lyrics came to mind. “Nothing can happen to me today. Nothing good, nothing bad. Nothing can happen to me today without passing through the fathers hand.” So, what does it take for God to get your attention? Trust me, in life, at any time, God allows some extreme attention getters. Actually…don’t trust me. I have my own trust issues which at least partial explains God’s attempt at a teachable character moment for me. Yes, God can make something good come from a rogue steer and me standing where I shouldn’t.
