Who Wants All This Stuff?

My parents have made a decision to down size and move into a much smaller home. This decision is forcing them to get rid of much of the stuff in their house. They have started by asking each of their three sons if they want any of the stuff. Well, some of things are old toys and things from my childhood and some of that I want and some I don’t want at all. Some of the things they want to pass down are items that belonged to my grandparents and great grandparents and I have to say that is pretty cool to have those things.
All of this down sizing and passing things down has caused me think about this question, Just what do I want my parents to pass down to me? I think for the most part I want the things they have already given me. These are things that I will always have and they are things that don’t take up any storage space and they will last me a life time.
My parents have given me the following:
1. An appreciation for a good joke. I love to hear my dad share an old joke even it is one that I have heard a hundred times. The joy he has in the telling of a good joke is better than all the punch lines in the world.
2. An appreciation for a good days work. I will forever remember the long hours of work put in by both my parents. My dad would spend hours in preparation of his sermons and Bible lessons. He would spend hours sitting with families in a hospital or a funeral home. My mother always kept a clean house, clean laundry and she feed her three sons like we were kings. She would spend hours sewing new shirts for each of us and to this day I don’t like the feel of a tag on the back of my neck.
3. A willingness to show compassion to the less fortunate, the lonely, the hungry and those in despair. I will forever remember my parents bringing home enlisted men from the army who were stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. I am sure that some of those men who ate fried chicken at my mother’s table never made it home from Vietnam and maybe they never knew how much this nation appreciated their service to our country, but for one afternoon they enjoyed a good home cooked meal and a long nap on the couch and for those few hours they knew someone cared about them.
4. An understanding of what it means to love someone for a lifetime. One of the reasons Mary and I have such a good marriage is the fact that each of us grew up in homes that were built on forever love. My parents never owed a house until they were in their fifties. They never spent their money on senseless things. I remember thinking that my family was probably the last family on the planet that owned a black and white television. I was a teenager before I saw a cowboy game in color and I had no idea that Little Joe’s jacket was green. We did not have a lot of stuff back then, but what we did have was a mom and dad that truly loved each other and were committed to a life time of love for each other and their family. This is a love that has sustained them for over sixty years.

So, what do I want from my parents? Simple, it’s all the stuff like that which will last me to the end of my days. It is also the kind of stuff that I want to pass down to my own children. Hopefully, they will see the value in those things just as I have.

Thanks mom and dad. You have given me everything I need and for that I am forever grateful.

Love God. Go Love Others.