Chris' Christian Blog

September 3, 2019

"September 3, 2019" 

"Prompt: My favorite birthday gift."

My family was never one togive birthday gifts. Most of the people in my family are so poor that we can't really afford to give gifts. I think most of the idea of not giving gifts stems back to my childhood though. My parents had nine children. We depended on my dad's pay to get by. He was a janitor most of the time, which, means he earned just a little more than minimum wage. Every penny went to put food on the table and keep the lights on. Birthday gifts were unheard of, though we did receive Christmas and Easter gifts. When you have nine children you by-pass things like birthday gifts because if you do it for one child you have to do it for all your children. When you have a birthday coming up practically every month you don't buy gifts. My parents were consistent though. They had nine children but all the children shared a birthday month with another child. Three of my siblings were born in November, two in December, two in May, and my sister and I had June birthdays. I guess maybe my parents could have bought something special on those four months, even if it was only a card. They just never did. They never failed to acknowledge that it was a birthday. I received birthday spankings until I got old enough that they became embarrassing. All of us did. After that we usually just received spankings period. Mom always told us that she was going to start waking us by pulling the blankets down and taking a switch to us before we got out of bed in the morning. This way she would have already punished us for at least some of the mischief we would commit during the day! Of course she never did that,but it was the running joke for a long time. We teased her about it until the day she died. In fact, my brother John and I used to tell her that the state was looking for her. She'd always ask why. We would say "They're going to put you in the electric chair. If parents today are going to jail for scolding their children, you are going to the electric chair for the punishments you gave us!"
I guess one could say that the best birthday gift I ever received was love. My parents took care of us. My mom stayed withmy dad through it all. He cheated on her more times than I can count, but she stayed with him. I wonder if she ever felt there was any other choice? A lot of the decisions my parents made were made because there was no other logical choice. The decision not to purchase birthday gifts for nine children was one such choice. They did what they had to do and made any sacrifices they had to make. Thank you Mom and Dad. I love you! I miss you both!

"Prompt: Dawn or Dusk: In your experience, which is more meaningful to you?"

Even though I am quite tired on this particular morning, due to not sleeping well, I would have to say that morning is the most meaningful to me. Morning is a fresh start. Everything is brand new. I am usually rested and ready to tackle whatever is thrown my way. I enjoy having a clean slate each day. I look at each new day as a gift and an opportunity to improve on what went by yesterday. I make it a practice not to dwell on the past and not to worry about the future. However, I do look at the past and consider my mistakes so that I can prevent them in the present. One of the nastiest things I have ever eaten is crow. I don't care how you prepare it, it is always terrible. I try not to eat it, and the way to avoid eating it is to try not to cook it to begin with! Looking at each day as an opportunity, and learning from the mistakes of the past keeps me from eating crow. In case some of you have never heard the cliche "eating crow" perhaps you have heard it expressed as "eating humble pie". At any rate, it basically means humbling oneself and making amends for the mistakes we made. I am a recovered addict. If I do not keep a close tab on myself and make right whatever wrongs I become aware of, I will soon find myself in active addiction. To put it in broader terms I try to be an adult each day and do the right thing. It's what Jesus would do.

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