Responsible Father

My work’s phone system allows us to save messages left by callers. Over the years I have saved several from my kids, because they remind me why I like them.

Yesterday, we got the memo that we’re getting a new phone message system and all of these messages are going to be deleted. So to prevent them from being lost forever, I have transcribed them.

They made my wife laugh and she suggested that I post them.

So here they are – the first is Daniel and the rest is Barrett.

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Hi, Mommy wants to know if you found your note book and if we should look for it. Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, and one more ‘Bye’, and this is the real Bye.

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Hi this is Barrett, um, We were thinking, well, if you’re going to stay home tomorrow, I mean maybe a little bit early, I mean leave late, . . . um, Carl will make sticky rolls and eggs and bacon for breakfast on Thursday, and he’ll get up really early to make it, too . . .  Or . . . if you’re not going to, we’ll have sticky rolls today and cold cereal tomorrow.

Please call back when you reach this.

Love you, I mean, I love you, Bye

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Hello, if you are Scott Jamison please call back. Bye, I love you.

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Hi, Um, This is Barrett, Um . .  Us, Daniel and me and Erik, would like to play croquet and I never got the rocket. Do you think you could get the stuff that we need that is there, um, at work – Do you think you could get it there? ‘Cause, I’d like – it would be cool if we could make it next Saturday. I don’t know – not that I want to shoot it off, but I would like to look at it as it is . . built.

So I hope you call back soon, and I love you, Bye

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Hi, This is Barrett. If you won’t, if you can’t guess how my eye appointment went, I’ll tell you in ten seconds . . . Okay, I can tell you now. It, um, it was exactly the same as last time. Bye. I love you.

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Hi, this is Barrett, and Daniel and me know how to get the sleds down and we really want to because we’re going outside, so if you don’t call quickly we’re just going to get them down. Bye.

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Hi, this is Barrett. Um, We don’t have any more gas and the riding lawn more just ran out of gas and Foster wants to say ‘Hi’, Okay? [Foster] The lawn more doesn’t have gas! [Barrett] Now say, ‘hello’. [Foster] Hello! [Barrett] bye bye [Foster] Bye Bye! [Barrett] Okay, bye.

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Dads (who live in the Twin Cities)!

The Minnesota History Center is Free every Tuesday evening until 8:00.

It always has interesting exhibits and your kids will learn.

If you have young kids, make sure to bring them to climb around in the Grain Elevator.

As an aside, do you like how this picture formatted?

I would like to bring this week’s Fighter Verse back in time and present it to the fifteen year old me, with some advice.

Here is the story:

When I was fifteen (give or take a year or two) and it was early in December when my parents encouraged my siblings and me to memorize the Christmas portion of Luke 2.  I decided to take up the challenge, and so did my sister who is three years younger than me.

God gave different gifts to my sister and me.  She is more personable, makes friends more easily, and had more of a servant attitude.  I was more academically minded and perhaps more suited to the task of memorization.  But she took up the challenge.  I’m ashamed to say that I hoped I would be the only one to succeed; I wanted it to be more clear who was the smart kid.  I had a chance to help her, and I did not take it.

So here’s this week’s Fighter Verse:  “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.  Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” (Ro. 15:1-2)

I did not do this when I was fifteen.  I used my strength to build myself up –to please myself.  I did not use my strength as God wanted me to.  If I had, I would have helped her, perhaps she would have succeeded, and I would have gotten joy out of the process.

So this week as I was talking about this verse with my kids, I told them that story.  I pray that my failure will at least have the benefit of serving as a counter example to them.  And maybe to you, as well.

Here is this week’s song. When I wrote it, I wasn’t thinking about the story about my sister, but the phrasing almost makes it sound like I was trying to lecture: And not to please ourselves, not to please ourselves, NOT to please ourselves.

Dads! Want an inexpensive, creative, fun gift for your kids?

Go to Michael’s and buy them one of these:

They cost about a dollar, are maybe four inches across, come with their own paint and are fairly easy for a young child to build.

There’s lots of different vehicles to choose from, so you can get a different one for each child.

Try it!