Saturday, December 22, 2018

Two Guys Named Alex

I wish there were more tories like this out there! This is from 12/31/14.
News isn't really considered newsworthy much anymore unless it involves violence, name calling, corruption, or the social issue of the day. That's why I love this story and others like it. It seems like a nine year old Pennsylvania boy named Alex Collins from Chester County heard that the local sheriff was offering youngsters a chance to hunt and fish. He wrote an application but there was a problem- it was the sheriff in Chester County, South Carolina. The Pennsylvania sheriff, Carolyn Welsh, did some research and contacted her South Carolina counterpart, Alex Underwood, about the mixup. Underwood came through, inviting the boy with the same first name to South Carolina and they met yesterday in South Carolina. To get the whole heart warming story, please spend two minutes and read the articles and watch the news clips. I guarantee you'll smile....or cry...or both.


The one thing that got to me most was the letter little Alex wrote in hoping to be selected for the adventure which he thought was in his home state. I have recreated most of it below leaving in the misspellings for realism:
I realy want to go hunting with you. I don't have any one to teach me. It's just me and my mom and she's to sick to do stuff. She has  a bad heart. I think you are really nice to do this. I hope you pick me to go.

The underlined sentence jumped out at me. I took my dad for granted. He taught me stuff all the time even though I never realized it. It wasn't hunting or playing basketball or how to put in a new water heater but he was my instructor on teaching and public speaking and citizenship and following the Lord. Kids need a guy in their life if at all possible. Sometimes, it isn't a biological father. It might be a grandpa/uncle/preacher/neighbor/teacher/coach and yes, even a sheriff. I'm not downplaying the role of moms- I learned equally from my saintly mother as I did from Dad- but there is an urgent need and even longing for a father figure in kids. I tell my classes I believe God chose Joseph as carefully as Mary when selecting the earthly parents for Jesus Christ. Over the past ten days, I was so impressed as I watched three of my nephews- Zach, Ben, Seth- interact with their young children doing what my father did with me and my siblings. What does it mean to have a good father? Look what John wrote in 1 John 3 verse 1:
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
Being a father means love. And sometimes a boy just needs to have someone to teach him how to hunt. And sometimes sheriffs do much more than simply enforce the law and keep the peace. And once in awhile, they get the praise they deserve.

Applicable quote of the day:

"Be a dad. Don’t be 'Mom’s Assistant'.... Be a man.... Fathers have skills that they never use at home. You run a landscaping business and you can’t dress and feed a four-year-old? Take it on. Spend time with your kids.... It won’t take away your manhood, it will give it to you."
Louis C.K.


Please copy and paste the links below and watch the stories from these two tv stations!

http://fox6now.com/2014/12/30/south-carolina-sheriff-steps-up-big-time-for-pennsylvania-boy-who-really-wanted-to-go-hunting

http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/27723550/geographical-mix-up-bring-pennsylvania-boy-to-chester-sc-to-hunt-with-sheriff

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com

E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com

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