72 Niagara Falls — Slowly I Turn

“Now therefore, listen to me, my children, For blessed are those who keep my ways.
Hear instruction and be wise, And do not disdain it.” Proverbs 8:32-33 (NKJV)

You could call it a suicide run but we had fun doing it. Our family took a trip up to the Niagara Falls area and did a lot in seventy two hours. We had a plan to see a Finger Lake, a Great Lake and somewhere in the middle we would take in the Falls of Niagara. We also wanted to see a special set of friends from a former church body we belonged to. I didn’t really except to see what else God had in store. And then there was Nik Wallenda taking a tightrope walk from the American side of the Horseshoe Falls to the Canadian side. Pretty cool stuff I must tell you.

But there were other things that I would pick on during what I can call the most intense seventy two hours I’ve experienced in recent memory…and it was Father’s Day weekend to boot!!! Over the next few Freedom Fighters that I will be contributing,  I would like to share what you could call my journal of this trip and this starts with the family drive up. After we awoke at the crack of dawn and loaded the car, it was time for the 8+hour drive to upstate New York. We did our stops along the way before we really dug in and drove the Northeast Extension to New York. Just a side note here…the Starbucks in the Allentown Plaza was worth the wait, like my espresso I do!!!

Once settled in the car it was Bible trivia time. This is where I found out that my children have been reading their Bibles, I mean really reading it! Now for a while along the way as the questions were coming I was giving my shout outs. When my wife asked, “Who was the wicked woman who caused Naboth to be stoned to death so she could acquire his vineyard?” My immediate response was “Jezebel!!” Then it was “Who was a prophetess and a judge, and a great military leader against the Canaanites?” I was quick to say, “Deborah!!” HA, I thought!! This shall be easy but then my wife said…”Let the kids answer.” Huh? Thought I was the “just got my LBC certificate in Bible smarts.” Hmph…so I shut my mouth and keep driving.

As we drew closer to the Leigh Valley Tunnel the questions got kinda Bible basic but to hear the kids answer was surprising at times. “What is the shortest book in the Old Testament?” Hmmm, got my thinking cap on this one and just when I think I got it my son, in his usual quiet way answers “Obadiah.” Then it was “What’s the shortest book in the New Testament?” I decide I got this and I say “Jude” but to my dismay my daughter answered correctly with “3^rd John.” So much for my college smarts, huh? We all did argue over the Book of Psalms being an actual book versus being a collection of writings but still as far as I was concerned this dad was well pleased that his children would have this kind of dialogue with us parents at all.

This was a great start to the Father’s Day weekend I was to experience with the family…my family! Guess I never took “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” to heart as much I should have. I heard it and understood it in an almost command-like way but I never stopped to think that one day it just be very pertinent to my father’s heart. I encourage fathers everywhere to make sure that your children are face first into their Bibles and gleaning what God has it for them. Even if our kids know their academics it will be their eagerness to give answers that we should notice and that has to be, my brothers, God pleasing indeed. – Chris Hughes graduate from the Colony of Mercy in 2003 and blogs on a regularly on the Freedom Fighter blog

Team YOU: Job 3-4; Proverbs 25; Acts 7:44-60

Motivations: “Teenagers experience frequent failure. As Christian parents, you must become adept at taking your child to the Cross to find forgiveness and power to live. You do your children great disservice if you strip away all the excuses for failure and force them to see their sin as it is, without giving them well-worn paths to the Cross”—Tedd Tripp

Practice to Remember: Level 1:Philippians 1:29; Level 2: Philippians 1:27-30

Powered Up:  What God sovereignly decrees in eternity, men will about demand in time.