Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

The Scriptures will be embedded in the story.

Boilerplate

I’m Harold Dykstra.  I’m retired, but I go to food bank distributions all over Tracy and talk to people that need someone who will listen to their story.  My time is well spent.  A police lieutenant suggested that I write down the conversations that I had with an angel.  I did not know she was an angel at the time.  The angel, for a little over a year, indwelled a life-sized posable action figure my children bought me, so that I would not be perceived as travelling alone.  And in a way, she was training me for what I do while talking to the needy.  She probed my heart to find out what I believed and how I express love for others.  She changed my life.

In her leaving, she said someone would come.  I had thought that was Jesus, in His second coming, but a new Babs, a little older, the model for the posable action figure arrived.  While I had no desire to start over with romance, Morrie helped her move in, thinking she was the other Babs who had returned.

This Week’s Question

Last week, Babs bought a dog.  Jim Kaiser and Darrell Driver have already come over to the house and installed a dog run in the backyard.  They have not hooked up the utilities yet.  They said they would be back in the Spring to do that.  So, Sugar has to spend her nights in the garage in her oversized cage.  When Babs is at home, Sugar stays upstairs with her and Sugar is not allowed on the bed, but if we have a honeymoon, something we are not planning on having since we have so many obligations, the Niblicks have volunteered to let Sugar visit their beagle, Beauty.  Beauty and Sugar have even had a get-to-know-you party at the dog park.  But in a pinch, we gave Tony Painter a spare garage door opener.  We could trust him to feed and water Sugar and take her on walks.  But probably little Joe Painter would do that.  After all, Babs was his Ornery Grandma (Honorary).

This week, Babs has been in a nostalgic mood.

I had to ask.  “Babs, why are you asking so many questions about the younger Babs, and about how I was brought up?”

Babs laughed, “Yesterday, I was thinking about today being Black Friday.  I know.  Yesterday was the important day, but we are thankful everyday, Harold.  I ate your turkey and dressing, and I had a nice nap while you pretended to watch the football games.  You had that slits for eyes thing going and you did not respond when I whispered that I love you.  If that happened after we were married, I would think our marriage had become boring, but you would not dare fail to respond when we are less than three months away.”

I snickered, “Nothing about you is boring, Babs.”

She made a pose and said, “Thank you.”  Then she laughed.

I asked, “But why the nostalgia?”

Babs asked, “Remember the Black Friday that the young Babs missed?”

I laughed, “Oh, yes.  We had a long discussion about greediness.  The shoppers want the deals.  The salesman wants you to buy things that are not on sale, and actually marked up to make higher profits.  Besides, the things that are on sales, especially the electronic things, will come down in price in six months, if you just wait.”

Babs scrunched her nose, “Am I supposed to wait like Psalm 33 says in verse 20, ‘We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.’?”

I groaned, “Babs, think of context.”

Babs started acting like she was counting her fingers, “But if you are waiting for a bargain, just like you said, wouldn’t God be our help and shield?”

I shook my head, “I will not argue with that silly analogy, but the psalmist was saying we should trust in God, and we should not trust that the price would come down in six months.  So, when we ask God, we should wait for His answer.  We should not be impulsive.”

Babs snickered, “But I loved it when we got impulsive and went to Stout County to the Christian bookstore there.  And we met that nice man, Turnip Greens.”

I moaned, “Turnip Greens is the head of organized crime in Stout County.  He’s nice to some people, but you have to ask why.”

Babs leaned in close, “Harold, he had bought several books at the bookstore.  He might be questioning his line of work.  We don’t know, but God does.  Next time, I want to impulsively go farther.  You can pick the direction or we can get a spinner thing and have it point the way.”

“A compass?” I suggested.  She only smiled.

Babs giggled, “Harold.  What if we wait too long.  Joshua 18:20 says, ‘So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you?’  What do we do then?”

I countered, “But God commanded them to take the land. Joshua 1: 11 says, ‘“Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”’ Then when Achan took stuff that he shouldn’t, they failed to take Ai on the first try.  Joshua 7:11 ‘Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions.’ So, they were told to take possession of the land, but in some cases, they were ordered to not take plunder, or possessions from the defeated people.  But how did we get on Joshua and taking possessions?”

Babs scratched Sugar behind the ears, “I was teasing you about waiting and then waiting too long.  Joshua 23:5 says, ‘“The Lord your God himself will push them out for your sake. He will drive them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.’  But the people did not trust in God.  Did they?”

I laughed, “No, Babs.  But God was true to His Word.  In the time of David, God drove out those peoples.  They remained out of the land during the time of Solomon.  But then, sin entered and corrupted the people, and the kings were just some of the people.  When they had a good king, that did not mean that the people were good.  But I thought you were thinking about the issues with Black Friday.”

Babs snickered, “Don’t worry.  I am not leaving the house today.  Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, ‘Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.  This too is meaningless.’  Did you ever have enough money, Harold?”

I laughed, “Now that is a personal question.  If you had children, which you have not had, you either learn how to say ‘no’ or you will be dissatisfied with your pay.  It’s a vicious cycle.  Their ‘I-wanna’ grows exponentially while your pay does not.  They learn what that means only when they become a wage earner who must pay the bills.  So, at times, I was quite dissatisfied with my pay because the children whined louder and louder.  I was satisfied, but I also wanted peace and quiet.”

Babs and I kissed, and Babs took Sugar for a walk and then to the oversized cage downstairs.  It was a bit cold today.  When the dog run gets utilities, she’ll have a heated doggie bed and fresh water and food on demand.

Then she returned to ask, “But, Harold, what happens when you get dissatisfied with your pay?”

I shrugged, “Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:24, ‘“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.’ So, if you fall into that trap, God has not disserted you, but He may not support your plans.  And when the children start asking for bigger and bigger toys, like a car they can drive to school in, you impress them that they can also drive the car to work.  Then they say that they have no job.  Then you nod and say, ‘exactly.’  They quit whining after a while, or they get a job.”

Babs leaned in close and kissed me again.  “Sugar whines, but the biggest thing she whines for is a bone or she really needs to go to the bathroom bad.  So, I look to you regarding the wisdom of dealing with children.”

I laughed, “Babs, when it comes to children, I think you make mistakes all along the way.  You try to fix what you thought your parents did wrong, but you just get yourself in other problems.  And every child is different.”

There was a knock at the door, but we have a doorbell.  Babs answered, and it was Joe Painter.  “I did all my chores and Dad said I could come play with Sugar.”

Babs said, “She’s downstairs in the cage.  We don’t have the heat turned on in her dog run yet.  It’s cold, so you two stay in the garage.  And if she signals that she needs to do her business, use the leash and see if she will go in the area where we have cleared the snow off the grass.  She does not like walking in the snow.  Weird.  Some dogs love the snow.”

Two hours later, Tony came by to ask where Joe was.  We found him in the corner of the garage.  He was asleep, and Sugar was asleep in his lap.  Joe must have had a lot of chores to do.

Credits

All these conversations remind me of my conversations with my wife.  We would talk about anything and everything.  And most of the time, it sounded like a discussion in a Sunday school class.

The original story with the younger Babs is found in Babs Misses Out on Black Friday.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.