Josiah left on Monday to go to San Diego.  I wrote this right after he left but have had some trouble with the site and am just now able to upload it.

My son Josiah left today for San Diego where he will be for a month of training, after which, until Christmas, he will be part of a team that travels the New England area raising awareness of the problems generated by children being used as soldiers in Uganda.  The organization for which he works is called “Invisible Children.” When seeing him off today, it was really, really tough.  I came back into the house after seeing him leave and burst into tears, weeping like a little girl.  My little beagle Mo tried to dry my tears by licking them off and I was reminded of two things: A dog saved my life; the history of the world was changed by cheap thread; and we must depend upon the providence of God for the protection of those whom we love (I often make unusual links between ideas, it’s due in part, to the fact that I have many, many characters living rent free inside my mind.  Many of these characters make themselves know when I do ventriloquism).

The story of the history of the world beingchanged drastically by the use of cheap Egyptian thread is an old one.  Remember that Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers.  Becoming a slave of the very powerful leader “Potiphar” where he was made the second in command over much of the empire.  Joseph was a very handsome man according to the apocryphal book “Joseph and Asneth” which answers the question of why Joseph, a fine Jewish boy would marry an Egyptian girl (Even the ancients had trouble with teaching their children whom they should and should not marry.  I can imagine Jewish mothers telling their sons not to marry a non-Jewish girl and hearing the answer “But Joseph did it!” The book Joseph and Asneth answers the problem by telling of Asneth’s conversion to the Hebrew God.)

Joseph’s looks get him into trouble when Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce him while the master of the house is away.  Joseph will have none of that and eventually flees from the “shameless hussy” (as my father would have said) who holds on to Joseph’s cloak (a garment that was the main article of clothing).  Because of the cheap Egyptian thread, the cloak tears and is left with Potiphar’s wife who uses it to claim attempted rape.  Joseph is thrown into prison for a crime he did not commit.  Through a series of incredible events orchestrated by God in which getting thrown into prison was critically important (Read Genesis 30-50 for the entire story), Joseph eventually becomes second in command in the entire land of Egypt.  Through this, Joseph saves his brothers and family from starving, thus saving the entire race of Israel, and by default, the people of God.  That is correct; the existence of the people of God, the nation of Israel in the Hebrew Bible comes down to a cheap piece of thread and an unfair prison sentence.  God is in control of even the little things.  As Joseph says to his brothers who sold him into slavery, “you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” (Gen. 50:20) The fact is, as the Joseph story shows time and time again, there are no little things.

The history of my life was changed drastically by a dog.  I remember my father telling me of a dog he had whom he loved greatly.  My father grew up in Indiantown in the 1920s (moving there from Arcadia in a covered wagon) and did a lot of hunting out in the swamps.  One day, in 1925, as he and his beloved dog were walking through some saw-grass, a surprised diamondback rattlesnake lunged to strike at my 15 year old father.  My dad, never tiring of the story told how his dog jumped in front of the snake and took the bite and died.  My father survived because of a dog who took his snake bite.  I exist today because of a dog who took his snake bite.  In a world run by God, there are no little things.

So while I will worry about my boy, I will also trust the God of cheap Egyptian thread and life saving dogs to take care of him.  Perhaps the Lord will send some thread, a dog, or who knows what else to keep him safe, but I will be praying mightily for him.

One of the greatest gifts that a parent can give to a child is trust.  Both of my children, Charity and Josiah, have earned my trust.  I love them with an incredibly strong love and would do anything to keep them from being hurt.  I am not, however, able to control everything.  That is the reason that I turn to my heavenly father who controls not only the “big things” like the hearts of kings (Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD like channels of water; he turns it wherever he wants. NET Bible) but also the small things, right down to the throwing of dice (Proverbs 16:33 The dice are thrown into the lap, but their every decision is from the LORD. NET Bible).

The pain at seeing Josiah leave today, only for sixth months and for a very safe and wonderful activity, reminds me afresh of the incredible sacrifice that our heavenly Father made for us when he sent his son.  What an incredible thing to think that our Father sent his son on a trip that was anything but safe, and which had as its basis nothing but grace.  Jesus came to die, sent by his father who knew the terrible pain, humiliation, and spiritual hardship that he was to face; for us.

I’ll be waiting anxiously until Josiah gets home; taking comfort in the fact that God is watching over him. He is, as Peter reminds us the shepherd of our souls (1 Peter 2:25 For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.NET Bible)

But even more than that I take comfort in the fact that I have a Father and a Savior who will be waiting for me until I get home.  I will not be going home a minute before my time, nor can I survive a second after it.  It is all worked out down to the last detail.  There are no small things with God.  I am very thankful for that.  The last thing I said to Josiah was a phrase that my mother used to say to me, “I love you, now don’t forget who you belong to” (I know that it is grammatically incorrect, but I am not going to correct my mother).  She meant not just to remember that my father had worked very hard to keep his name unsullied and a thing of honor, but that I was also a child of the heavenly father and that what I did reflected on God as well as my earthly father.

God has some great plans for both of my children.  No matter what career they decide to pursue, the most important thing they can remember is to never “forget who they belong to.” All else is small in comparison.  As Charity works on her master’s degree in social work so that she can be an instrument of grace in a broken world and as Josiah speaks for those who cannot speak for themselves, I could not be more proud.  God has been so gracious to give me such great and beautiful children (the credit goes to the Lord’s goodness and to Cindy’s incredible parenting skills, I shudder to think what they might be like without my unbelievably patient wife who has parented me as much as the kids (lines like “honey I don’t think hanging off the roof on a rope with a running chain-saw is a good idea” come to mind).

After seeing Josiah off this morning, having my tears dried by my little buddy “Mo” I wondered what the dogs must think when someone leaves like that.  It reminded me of a paragraph from a book called The Year of Jublio by Howard Bahr.  In the scene a young man is leaving his home to become a confederate soldier.  As he leaves his old dog follows him up the road:



The dog had been old, toothless, feeble, but she had followed the boy when he left for the war, had stumbled blindly down the lane after him until the future soldier stopped and knelt and petted her , said “Go home, France-you can’t follow where I’m going.” The boy had gone, quickly, not looking back, and the dog had sat in the road and nodded her head, swayed her grey muzzle back and forth trying to find him again, until father had lifted the old dog up and carried her home, still looking for the boy.

I am looking for the day when we will all be carried by our Father to the “city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” No more separation.  That will be a great day!  All because a father selflessly sent his son to an unworthy group, to give them an unparalleled gift.  There are no little things with God.

Please pray for my boy as he travels and I’ll try to “man up” and not cry if you ask me about him.  More importantly pray for the gospel to go forth in a mighty way as the news of the greatest Father continues to be spread.

For the Lamb,

DSL