All the talk on the news today is the blizzard of historic proportions that is about to hit the east coast but this morning here in Michigan the sky is clear and the sun is shining. The snow storm passed south of us last night and we are cheerily about our business.
Here’s a story that I hope will warm your heart on this cold winter day.
This morning on my desk in front of me is a handwritten note written on a small yellow legal pad.
Our third-born is a son name Charles Kenneth. Chuk manages a business in the Grand Rapids area but he was here for the weekend. Sunday he sang at Evangel to close the service. I’m preaching on angels and he sang one of my favorite songs by Fernando Ortega: Jesus, King of Angels.
Last night I left for evening church and Chuk had to get back across the Mitten for work in the morning. After the service I had a meeting and got in late. My study at home doubles as a guest room. I noticed that Chuk had left a hand-written note on my desk before he left. I looked for long time at the simple words of love scratched out on the little yellow pad there. As simple as they were they warmed my heart.
This morning I read them again. Again, my mind went back over the nearly thirty years he has been my boy. What a treasure he is to me. I think of Chuk continually. I love him deeply. I enjoy him thoroughly. He is bright, witty, full of ideas, generous and loving.
A lot of things in my life need improving. I have goals and ambitions and even some regrets. I have plans and hopes and dreams. I have fears and failures and frustrations. I have responsibilities, deadlines, and people who depend on me. In the middle of all those things that can press in on my heart I have a fine son who loves me and wants to spend time with me.
That fact, affirmed on a little piece of yellow legal pad, warms my heart like the bright January sunshine streaming though the windows this morning and I thank God for it.
Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
January 26, 2015
