Sunday, February 05, 2006
Trouble looking for a place
It seems like a lifetime ago when our “children” were teenagers.
I suppose we encountered all the typical challenges that most other parents do, probably one or two more.
Our favorite (and only) son was wont to be drawn to people and situations we tried our best to influence him away from. He once stated: “I would rather learn from my own mistakes.”
This was in response to the obvious conversation most have with their offspring about learning from the mistakes of others.
There was a family of young fellows in our town who could most accurately be described as trouble looking for a place to happen. It often did.
Names? Let’s just call them R and T.
One such incidence was when a fight occurred between a friend of the brothers and someone else. T injected himself into the fray and he never knew what hit him, but HIT it did.
His scull was no match against a tire iron. It was a miracle he survived.
Of course the arguments were “He had to do it, it was his friend.”
Comments like; “If they hadn’t been hanging around with those kinds of people it wouldn’t have happened.” had no meaning to a teenager who knew all the answers to all the questions, even some that weren’t asked.
My grandfather, the late, great, Cap’n Ernie Hall the last, would say; “We grow too soon old and too late smart.” I still miss the Cap’n who has been gone about forty years.
Fast forward more than twenty years to three Sundays ago.
A young couple sat in church near the front, him very quiet, her, animated, head nodding in agreement to the words of the pastor.
I didn’t get the opportunity to meet them until the next week when another young fellow introduced himself and said; “Do you remember me? I’m R.” That’s my brother T.”
It was the two brothers who as teenagers were always in trouble, all grown up and here in our little church!
I could say more, but ………………..
Ain’t God good?
Shalom Y’all
It seems like a lifetime ago when our “children” were teenagers.
I suppose we encountered all the typical challenges that most other parents do, probably one or two more.
Our favorite (and only) son was wont to be drawn to people and situations we tried our best to influence him away from. He once stated: “I would rather learn from my own mistakes.”
This was in response to the obvious conversation most have with their offspring about learning from the mistakes of others.
There was a family of young fellows in our town who could most accurately be described as trouble looking for a place to happen. It often did.
Names? Let’s just call them R and T.
One such incidence was when a fight occurred between a friend of the brothers and someone else. T injected himself into the fray and he never knew what hit him, but HIT it did.
His scull was no match against a tire iron. It was a miracle he survived.
Of course the arguments were “He had to do it, it was his friend.”
Comments like; “If they hadn’t been hanging around with those kinds of people it wouldn’t have happened.” had no meaning to a teenager who knew all the answers to all the questions, even some that weren’t asked.
My grandfather, the late, great, Cap’n Ernie Hall the last, would say; “We grow too soon old and too late smart.” I still miss the Cap’n who has been gone about forty years.
Fast forward more than twenty years to three Sundays ago.
A young couple sat in church near the front, him very quiet, her, animated, head nodding in agreement to the words of the pastor.
I didn’t get the opportunity to meet them until the next week when another young fellow introduced himself and said; “Do you remember me? I’m R.” That’s my brother T.”
It was the two brothers who as teenagers were always in trouble, all grown up and here in our little church!
I could say more, but ………………..
Ain’t God good?
Shalom Y’all
