Nuts Don’t Fall Far From the Tree

Early in the ‘90’s we lived in the parsonage of Mount Hermon Baptist Church in Danville, Virginia.  The front yard was full of tall, mature pecan trees.  Many times now my family of four will recall the fall days when we would go out and pick up all the pecans we wanted.  However, we wanted more than those on the ground.  We wanted the ones that were still hanging on by a thin fiber inside the wide-opened black outer shell.

So, we got creative.  We would jump up and catch a limb and shake, shake, shake.  The boys were little and we made a game of running and picking up as many as we could.  Later we would desire ones that were even higher.  One of the boys went inside and got a football.  They would throw it up and hit one or two.  Then, Dad got rambunctious and began punting the ball up high into the tree.  Soon we were pummeled by dozens of hard shelled pecans.  Keeping the football theme the boys ran inside and got their football helmets to protect their heads from the hail-storm of nuts coming out of the tree.

Several things are for sure.  We had lots of nuts to eat, cook with and share.  And, without a strong wind all the nuts fell fairly close to the tree.

This week my family will celebrate the graduation from seminary of our second son William.  In a couple of weeks I will help him move to Boone, North Carolina where he will begin his first full-time position at First Baptist Church.  It will be like déjà vu all over again!  His older brother Ragan graduated just last year and I helped him move to Topeka, Kansas where he is now Associate Pastor of First Baptist Church.

To say that Susan and I are proud of our sons is an under-statement.  How can we cease to praise God for His blessings?  Some have quipped that they are just staying in the family business.  When they individually talked with us about their feeling “called to ministry” we did our best to talk them out of it.  Why wouldn’t we?  They had grown up in two ministers’ home; they had experienced the good, the bad and the ugly.  We encouraged them to do whatever they wanted to do and God would be pleased.

But, they each insisted that they knew God wanted them to go into full-time vocational ministry.  It just goes to show that no matter how much wind we, the parents, tried to blow the nuts away from the tree, God’s will and desire for them was much stronger.  And, without a doubt, we are so glad these nuts haven’t fallen far from the tree of their parents’ vocational journey.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!