My Father Watches Over Me

Well, January 2008 is already half over. How are your, “This year I’m going to…” promises to yourself coming along? Resolving change in your life is very difficult to accomplish if you haven’t really made up your mind to do it. What I mean is, we have to convince ourselves that a certain lifestyle change is going to be very beneficial to us. I quit drinking beer and smoking cigarettes hundreds of times before I finally saw the futility in trying to “control” the habit and simply eliminated the habit. I did both in a year, cold turkey. That was many years ago and I’ve never regretted my decision. It is said it takes twenty-eight days to form a habit and I’ve concluded it takes thirty days to break a habit. The first two days are to gain enough courage to support the other twenty-eight. I hope your doing well on your resolutions to yourself. Have faith, and be strong.
A wife went to the police station with her next-door neighbor to report that her husband was missing. The policeman asked for a description for the report. She said, “He’s thirty-five-years old, six foot four, dark eyes, dark wavy hair, an athletic build, weighs 185 pounds, is soft spoken and good to children.” The neighbor looked at her and protested, “Your husband is five foot four, chubby, bald, has a big mouth and is mean to your children!” The wife replied, “Yes, but who wants HIM back?”
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson of a battle that goes on inside people. He said’ “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil! It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.” The grandson thought about this for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
[2 Samuel 22] There is a legend concerning the rite of passage for young Cherokee Indian boys. His dad takes him into the forest, blindfolded, and leaves him there, alone. He is required to sit on a stump all night, and not take off the blindfold until a ray of sun shines through it. He is all by himself. He cannot cry out to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of his experience. Each lad must come into his own manhood. The boy was terrified and hearing all kinds of noises, he envisioned beasts all around him. Maybe even some human would do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and the stump he sat on seemed to shake. But he sat stoically; never removing the blindfold, for he knew it was the only way he could become a man. Finally, after a horrific night, the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then he saw his father sitting on the stump next to him, keeping watch over him, all night. The young boy endured a terrifying night; he thought, alone, for a change in his life, one he really wanted. How much more comforting would it had been if he knew his father was watching guard over him? (Mark 9: 14-29) After you’ve tried everything else, take the advice of our Lord, Jesus, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” Trust me when I tell you I did not go “cold turkey” alone. My lifestyle changes come about through much prayer and faith, that with God I will make it through all the “hoodily-doodilies” that stifle change. God is always there, keeping watch over us.