Father's Day

I remember one of my dad’s most memorable Father’s Days.  My dad, Billy Gerald Whitely, was an early riser.  Mom was not.  My dad had all of his energy in the morning, and my mother had all of her energy until late in the evening.  Just after supper, my dad would turn on the TV, kick back in his recliner and nap off and on until the eleven o’clock news. Then he would go to bed.  Our house had a living room, dining room, and kitchen in the front, and then a door to the hallway and three bedrooms in the back.  So my dad would get up at five in the morning, Shut the hallway door, and quietly make his coffee and ease into the morning.  At six o’clock, my mother would get up and then get up us four boys (my sister was born much later).  We would drag into the dining room rubbing sleep from our eyes to have family Bible reading.  We read a chapter each day, reading through the Bible in three years.  Dad would read a few verses, then mom and finally each of us four boys.  After dad read, he would eat his Raisin Bran cereal listening to the rest of us reading our verses.  After a brief discussion, we would pray, and dad would leave for work at six thirty.  Mom would let us go back to bed until seven.  But a month before Father’s Day, everything changed.  After dad went to work, mom helped us memorize Ephesians chapter 6.  And on Father’s Day, us four boys proudly quoted Ephesians 6:1-18 for my dad.  I still remember the pleased look on his face, and I still remember those great verses:  Ephesians 6:1-3, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.”  Hey, memorize God’s Word.  You’ll never regret that you did.