Baby pictures! The firstborn in a family always has far more pictures taken of him or her than the subsequent children... or so I thought.
Secondly, I thought my parents didn't take many pictures of my brother and I as we were growing up. To my recollection, it didn't seem important to my parents to take pictures of us. The camera they had was old and unreliable, and I didn't think they took the trouble of trying to use it. How wrong I was!
On these cold days of winter, I have been reviewing and organizing the family archives ( old photos and letters). I made a wonderful discovery in the process. I found out that the two statements which I made above were just not true! I discovered lots of pictures taken of myself (the second born) as well as my brother as we were growing up.
I found an old photo album- you know- the kind your grandmother had which had black pages between stiff covers held together with a string, the photos in it secured with corner tabs, and the labeling done in white ink. I don't remember ever having seen this album before. However, there it was, year after year, a picture of my brother on his birthday on April 3 with a cold, barren landscape behind him and then a picture of me taken on my birthday the next month in May with the evidence of trees budding out behind me. And there below each photo was my mother's writing putting down the date. My mother was meticulous her whole life when it came to labeling photos. She kept a diary and must have referred to it to accurately date photos. At any rate, there were the pictures of my brother and I carefully labeled. Always the date. Always our age. The pictures were always taken on our respective birthdays, never taken a day early or a day late.
My mother documented the dates of the pictures, but it was obvious that it was my dad who took the photos. Back before flash cameras, pictures were taken outdoors in the sunlight. Frequently, as in the photo of me above on my 8th birthday, my dad's shadow could be seen.
Whereas some people grow up without having good fathers to nurture them, I am convinced I had the best father ever! After seeing my dad's shadow so often in my birthday photos, I've been thinking about what it was like to grow up in his shadow. There were several 'bike' picutres in the photo album on my 8th birthday; apparently my dad was especially pleased with the new bike he had given me. Our family didn't have much money, so that new bike was an extravagant example of my dad's provision for his litlle girl who was growing up before his eyes.
In the shadow of my father! What did my father provide for me over the years? He gave me the freedom and safety to roam with delight over the farm fields, splashing through the creek bed and exploring the woods. He gave his time at the end of each exhausting day to read books to me, even way past the time I could read for myself. He piled up mounds of sweet smelling hay on the barn floor for me to jump down into. He gave me dairy cattle to train and the supporting opportunity to show them at the county and state fair. He gave me chickens to tend so I could earn spending money. He taught me how to use machinery and tools- things like an ax with which I chopped down trees, hammer and nails to build things, the use of a wide brush to paint buildings, and the tractor to drive for doing field work. He taught me the value of honest labor as I helped him in the summer to bring in the hay and cultivate the corn, and to fork over the beans plants to dry in the fall. He moved and renovated an old shed to be my 'clubhouse', he bought me my own horse to ride, and he bought my brother and I a pool table and ping pong table in our teen years to enjoy with friends. In college, he let me borrow the family car (our only car) for a week to drive east to hike the Appalachian trail with some friends. My father gave me an example of how neighbors are to help one another, of always believing the best in another person, and of going to church regularly to sing God's praises with zest.
I had it very good as I grew up because I was abiding in the shadow of a father who loved me and provided for me. My father gave me an example of what God is like. The way my dad lived his life helps me to understand the following truths from the Bible-
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.' Psalm 91:1
Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give hims a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent" If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will you Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Matthew 7:9-11
I have to admit that age is creeping up on me. I can't run, and I don't chop down trees anymore. I don't have the same sense of well being I used to have to be out on snowy roads in the winter or while driving at night. I don't feel safe to wander fields and woodlands alone. It's not that I'm in my second childhood and completely helpless yet. However, as an older person, I know I am more vulnerable and I need to be in the shadow of someone who is stronger and wiser than me. Who will that be? Almighty God! I need to keep abiding in the shadow of my Heavenly Father just as I was in the shadow of my father on my 8th birthday. God has promised to give me good gifts, just like my dad did, if I ask God to be my provision and my protector. Jesus promised me that.
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