“And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so
that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable
and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
Hey gang, A confession, I feel very qualified to address the
title of the day for Slue foot reminds me of my shortcomings on a regular
basis. Now what triggered that in my
mind? I mean, when we give our lives to
Jesus should we not put the past in the garbage can and move to higher ground/ Did Paul not say, “When you were dead in your transgression and the uncircumcision of
your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all of our
transgressions” (Col. 2:13).
I recently came across the following statement that got my
attention; “You are what you think you are”. That kind of brought a whole barrelful of
thoughts, questions and even memories out of the cedar chest of my past. As I
stood in front of the bathroom mirror and asked, “Is that really true?” I had
to agree that was partially true in my life.
I was born the son of a coal miner who had an eighth-grade
education and very limited social skills.
My mother was also an eighth-grade graduate and equally lacking in
social skills. You might say, we lived
in a coal miner’s environment, where education and advancement were not topics
of discussion. It was said that my
mother had the potential to be an accomplished pianist and my dad the unique
ability to be able to fix just about anything.
Their hearts’ desire
was to move up the social ladder but there was a huge yoke around their necks -
eighth-grade educations -in a period when the depression was like a hammer in
the lives of the masses.
And then one day an injury in the coal mine ended his coal
shoveling days. There are times when
adversity can be a dictatorial motivating power to seek higher ground. After moving his family from deep in the
mountains (they used to say we lived so far back in the sticks even the hoot
owls carried knapsacks and they had to pump sunshine to us) he pounded the
streets until he ran into a painter who needed a painter who was fearless and
willing to climb radio towers and paint them by dipping his gloved hand in a
bucket of paint and using it as a paint brush as he descended down the tower.
Shortly after we arrived in the city I was enrolled in
school. They placed me in a class with
more kids than I had ever crossed paths with in my first six years. On the first day of school I gained immediate
attention because my name was Kermit, I had large front teeth that resembled
“buck teeth”, wore knickers and brogan shoes, which placed an immediate target
on my back.
Due to our economic woes, it was deemed by the school
district that I should receive milk twice a day- which only added to my
harassment as the ‘milky kid’ who had to go into the bowels of the school and
drink my two pints of milk each day.
To say I was a very bad student is to put it very mildly. I learned very early to detest walking up
Fourth Street to that place of pain called Fairview Elementary School, which
set the stage for my twelve years in the educational system of Altoona,
Pennsylvania. Now I tell you this to set
the stage for what is to come which I will pick up on in the next Tuesday morning
message.
As Paul Harvey often said, “Tune in tomorrow and get the
rest of the story”. Keep in mind the
focus of these messages is to give hope to those who believe they have nothing
to offer to God.
Blessings,
Gramps
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