One quality I have long admired in Dad is his attitude about material posessions. He has excellent taste and enjoys high quality furniture, decorations, and clothing. But he never lets a nice shirt stop him from doing service or places more worth in a "thing" than on a person or their feelings.
When I was 11 or 12 (I think), Mom and Dad bought a new dark cherry bedroom set for me....the 4-poster canopy I had dreamed of for years and a matching dresser with a huge mirror and shelves on top. It was so beautiful and I know it was expensive too. The set was only a few months old when I was painting my nails on the dresser one day and spilled some nail polish. I panicked, thinking I had ruined my new dresser and ran to get the nail polish remover. I then proceeded to rub acetone all over, effectively stripping the dark glossy finish from the dresser top and leaving a big streaky white spot. Totally ruined. I felt so awful.
I only remember Dad asking that I paint my nails in the bathroom from then on and he agreed that though it made sense to use nail polish remover, that was not a good way to clean wood. It is remarkable to me that he didn't yell, lecture, or hold a grudge against me. It was a small moment of my childhood but taught me a great lesson--relationships are more important than things. I always think of Dad when I hear the scripture in Matthew 6: 19-21 because I know that he does not lay up treasures for himself on earth, but instead focuses on the things of more eternal worth.
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
So true Flori. When I was 17 years old, Dad bought a brand new Honda Accord and let me drive it off the lot up to the cabin...I was wearing flip flops, umbros and no shirt (total white trash). I'm sure the salesman was thinking, "You're going to let HIM drive this off the lot?"
ReplyDeleteBut dad didn't care...it was just a car. I've always wondered how dad's clients reacted when he drove up in the Dasher, Gold truck, Fiesta, Focus, or some other cruddy vehicle while his children were out driving his nicer cars.
As an aside, despite the moth corruption on that old cherry bedroom set, our family has sure gotten a lot of miles out of it, right? Who has it now? Love that furniture.
Jim and Luci have it. I've helped them move it several times. You can tell by the tops of the dressers that Flori wasn't the only one giving the surface an "antiqued" texture.
ReplyDeleteAlso, good thing he didn't lay any value on:
ReplyDelete1. The new couches that Bob and Elizabeth cut up with scissors
2. The back of the Mitsubishi (Or mistubichi, as Nanny called it), where a whole large ziplock full of crayons spilled, then melted into the carpeting of the rear window
3. The only kangaroo skin he brought back from australia, which was cut up by Bob. Really Bob, again?
4. His collection of boomerangs from his mission, which John and I took to the Erickson's field and quickly lost/destroyed them.
5. His glasses. We didn't destroy them, but I think he's gone through at least 100 pairs in his life. One day he'll take the screws out of his shirt pockets... and then, by Murphy's law, he'll need the screws the next day.
love this post, Flori. I shared some of these same stories in my Sunday School class when we read this scripture. Dad, you've taught me a really good lesson about sharing what we have as it is always more about the relationship than it is about the thing. i love you! -mare
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