A Father's Day Memory

My favorite Father's Day memory is from 1995. Shawn would have been 12, Jay 10, Josh 6 and Megan 10 months.

I got the idea to kidnap Steve that Sunday and I enlisted the boys help. We decided that after church, we would surprise him by driving him to French Creek State Park for a picnic lunch and an afternoon at the park. We had a lot of fun planning how we could manage to get the van packed with all the things we needed for the picnic without Steve knowing what we were doing.

Fortunately, Steve wasn't around much that Saturday so I got all the food ready and hid what needed to be kept cool deep in the refrigerator where I hoped Steve wouldn't see it. The non-perishables we packed in a cooler or box and hid as well. Since Megan was crawling we decided to take the playpen (this was before pack-n-play's were popular) along to keep her somewhat contained. This proved to be the most challenging, because we needed to get it into the van and we really couldn't put it in the evening before because we were afraid that Steve would notice that it was gone. We decided to try to get it in Sunday morning while Steve was in the shower.

I'm surprised that Steve didn't notice that the boys were up bright and early on Sunday.  They were excited, but did a good job of acting nonchalant and like this was no different that any other Sunday. When Steve went to take his shower, we all jumped into action. What you have to know is that Steve takes incredibly short showers so we did not have much time at all. I remember that Shawn ran for the playpen and quickly folded it up and got it out to the van. Jay, Josh and I grabbed everything else that we had packed beforehand and dashed it out as well.  Shawn shoved the playpen in and we all hurriedly threw everything else in and slammed the door. Then we dashed back into the house and tried to act as normal as possible when Steve emerged ready for church. We prayed that he wouldn't notice that there was something unusual sticking out behind the back seat.

I can't believe that Steve didn't notice the concealed excitement that accompanied the boys and me that morning but thankfully he was completely oblivious. We went to church and afterward the children and I went out to the car to wait.  When Steve came to the car after his normal after-church visitation, he found his wife sitting in the driver's seat grinning broadly and three boys with smiles as big as their faces. (I'm sure Megan was probably smiling too, but she was too little to know what was going on.) With a questionable look he got into the passenger's seat and we yelled "Happy Father's Day!"

I drove him (and the family) to French Creek and we had an absolutely delightful picnic lunch and afternoon at the park. The boys and I were overjoyed that we had managed to pull of such a feat and I still look back on this day with fond memories.

Winning Graciously

We've all heard of losing graciously but is it possible to win graciously?

Only my family and close friends know that I love watching tennis. It is not something I go around sharing with most people because frankly I'm a little bit embarrassed by how much I enjoy it. About a year ago I splurged and subscribed to the Tennis Channel and when I have a free evening you can be pretty sure that I will spend some of it catching up and watching the day's tennis events. I'm not here to debate whether this is good or bad but just to admit that I do it.

Tennis has four big events throughout the year which are called Grand Slams.  Winning one of these tournaments is one of the most prestigious prizes that a tennis player can claim. From May 26 - June 9 the French Open was contested in Paris, France. On the last Sunday, after Rafael Nadal claimed his 8th singles title, the men's doubles final was played and I was able to watch some of it. The United States has an outstanding men's doubles team in the Bryan brothers who are identical twins. They have been playing professional tennis for over fifteen years and have finished as the number one doubles team for 8 consecutive years. They won the Olympic Gold Medal in 2012 and they have won each of the four grand slams at least twice (see below) and they are considered to be the best men's double's team in history. Suffice it to say they are GOOD.

The reason I put "see below" in parenthesis in the previous paragraph was because although they have been successful at the three other Grand Slams winning them multiple times they had only succeeded in winning the French Open one time and that was ten years ago in 2003. The French Open is played on red clay and often this proves very challenging for players who did not grow up on the European clay courts. The Bryans had reached the final at least three times in the past but always lost. They managed to make the final yet again this year and they wanted very badly to lift that championship trophy again.

Their opponents were a French duo who have been fairly successful but had never won a Grand Slam title. Obviously this was a HUGE opportunity for them. They were playing in their home country in front of their fans who were wholeheartedly and loudly and enthusiastically showing their support for them. They would have liked nothing more then to win for both them and their country.

The match was hard-fought and close. In the end the Bryans won in a third set tie-break. The partisan crowd fell deathly quiet and then very politely clapped as the Bryans and the French team shook hands at the net. It was the reaction of the Bryan twins that I found very fascinating. Everyone knew how much this win meant to them, but you could hardly tell by their actions. They calmly congratulated each other and then walked off the court and sat down at their seats.  If you didn't know better, you wouldn't have known that they had won one of the most important matches of their career. One of the French players was so devastated that he cried uncontrollably on his partner's shoulder. At the trophy presentation, he was so overcome with his emotions that he could barely speak.  His partner thanked the French crowd for their support and congratulated the Bryan twins on their win. It was what the Bryans said when it was their turn to speak that I found especially interesting. They barely even mentioned their win but told the crowd what an incredible performance the French team had given and how they were so talented and that the Bryans were very lucky to have won it. They continued to give praise to the French team and told the fans that they hope they realize what great tennis players their two Frenchmen were and that they should feel nothing but pride in what they had been able to accomplishment.  I almost thought they were going to apologize for winning!

Now some people could argue that the Bryans were only being incredibly smart in not celebrating their victory in front of the all-French crowd. But I have watched a lot of tennis and I have seem plenty of full-fledged victory celebrations from players who couldn't care a less that the crowd was devastated that their countryman or woman had not won. I was impressed that the Bryans cared enough not to flaunt their happiness and success in front of the inconsolable team and their supporters. I think it showed class and respect to save their celebration for when they could do it with their own family and supporters. I read an article later in which both of them said how much winning this trophy meant to them and it had been their primary goal at the beginning of the year to once again be the champions at the French Open.

Maybe my question at the beginning of the Blog is rather silly because of course it is a lot easier to be gracious if you have just won something big. Everyone knows that it is a lot harder to be gracious in defeat. Still, I think it is important to consider the loser's feelings. When someone is already crushed by defeat, there is no reason to rub it in by celebrating wildly in their face. I've always liked the Bryan twins but my respect for them grew by the way they handled this victory.

Well, that's enough tennis for now. The good news is that Wimbledon starts in two weeks J

Khushi

Every year our local Christian radio station, WJTL, broadcasts “26 hours of compassion.” Over a 26-hour period listeners are encouraged to sponsor a child living in poverty in another country through CompassionInternational. The announcers read bios of children who are in need of sponsors and encourage you to call the station or go to Compassion's webpage and choose a child to support.  They explain how your monthly gift of only 30 or so dollars will completely change the lives of these precious children by enabling them to get a better education and providing them with essential everyday needs that their parents can’t afford to give to them.

I always thought this sounded like an excellent program.  Some of the staff of WTJL have gone on Compassion trips and were actually able to meet in person the child they were sponsoring and were able to see first-hand how their money was used to directly impact the life of their child. I can be very skeptical of non-profit organizations who ask for money and I always wonder how much actually goes to the cause for which we give the money and how much is used to pad the pockets of those in high places in the “ministry.” However, I liked what I heard and read about Compassion (who doesn’t want to help children), and came close to sponsoring a child several times, but some excuse always got in the way (mainly money) and I never made the commitment.

This February when WJTL was promoting their 26 hours of compassion, I just knew that the time was right.  I wanted to do this and I wanted to do it now. I got on the internet and went to Compassion’s page and chose a little girl with the same birthday as me. Her name is Khushi and she lives in India. She is eight years old. I sent a letter off to her with some pictures of me and my family and told her a little bit about myself and that I was excited to be her friend. Several weeks later I was elated to receive a letter from her (someone had helped her write it). She told me that her favorite color is blue (so is mine) and that she has 2 brothers and that she likes school and playing with friends and her favorite thing to play is house.  I was delighted with the letter and proudly showed it to my family.  It felt so good to know I was making a difference in a little girl’s life.

Last week I opened my mailbox and along with the normal bills and advertisements was the June ChristianityToday.  My heart sank as I read the headlines:  Does Child Sponsorship Work? The surprising news about the photo hanging on your refrigerator.  I was thinking that now that I finally went ahead and sponsored a child this article is going to tell me how awful the program is and how children aren’t even receiving the money we send for them.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was just the opposite. To make a long story short, an economist wanted to research the impact of child sponsorships but could find no organization that was willing to stick their necks out and have their work scrutinized. Finally, Compassion International agreed to risk what no other organization would.  After years of research the results were amazing.  In the six countries that they did their research (India was one of them), they found that sponsored children as opposed to unsponsored children have a 27 to 40 percent more chance of completing secondary school and were 50 to 80 percent more likely to complete a university education. They have much better self-esteem and were 14-18 percent more likely to obtain a salaried job, and 35 percent more likely to obtain a white-collar job. Many children become teachers as adults instead of remaining jobless or working in menial labor. There was some evidence that they are more likely to grow up to be both community leaders and church leaders.

I gave a sigh of relief at this information and looked at my picture of Khushi. I love this little girl and my dream for her is that she will grow up and have opportunities in life that she would not have had if I would not have sponsored her. It feels good to be giving someone a chance to succeed in life. I pray that she will look at my picture and know that there is someone across the ocean that cares about her and loves her. Hopefully through the love that I show her she will learn about God’s love as well.

Another dream that I have is that someday I will be able to join one of Compassion’s trips and actually meet Khushi in person. J

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers (or sisters) of mine, you did for me." ~ Matthew 25:40