Tag Archives: Generations

Chapter-a-Day

The Lost Art of Hospitality

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(Photo credit: Lynn Kelley Author)

Chapter-a-Day Genesis 19

Then [Lot] welcomed them and bowed with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “come to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may then get up early in the morning and be on your way again.” Genesis  19:1b-2a (NLT)

As I started reading the chapter this morning I was struck by Lot’s hospitality, which parallel’s Abraham’s hospitality from the previous chapter:

My lord,” [Abraham] said, “if it pleases you, stop here for a while. Rest in the shade of this tree while water is brought to wash your feet. And since you’ve honored your servant with this visit, let me prepare some food to refresh you before you continue on your journey.”

About ten years ago I spent a short period of time in Israel and was struck by the tradition of hospitality that is shown by the cultures there. When I read about the way Abraham and Lot welcomed and honored their guests, it feels very much the same as the way I was treated by complete strangers in some of my travels. Taylor and Clayton reported similar experiences from their travels in Morocco and Uganda. Hospitality towards strangers and guests is a time-honored tradition.

As I look back over my lifetime and observe some of the drastic changes I’ve witnessed in our own culture, the loss of hospitality is one of them. I’m still proud of “midwest nice” that you’ll still find in our small town here in Iowa, yet when I remember the way my grandparents regularly welcomed visitors into their home I am struck at how different it was. The coffee pot was always on in the morning and the tea kettle in the afternoon. There were always treats ready for guests, and there were always guests.

Even in my childhood and youth the welcome sign was always out at our home. My parents used to say to us “your friends are always welcome here,” and they were. Friends would stop by for a visit even if we kids weren’t home. They knew my mom would feed them and they would be treated like honored guests.

Perhaps what I experienced was the exception not the rule, but I don’t think so. I tend to think that we shut ourselves in our warm homes in the winter and our air conditioned homes in the summer. We lock the door and socialize with others in front of a computer screen. Meanwhile, the art and tradition of hospitality – of welcoming one into your home and caring for them with honor and grace – has been slowly lost despite the fact that God’s Message hearkens to the previous two chapters we’ve read and calls us to perpetuate the very practice:

Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Hebrews 13:2 (NLT)

I have tried to perpetuate the spirit of hospitality in our own home, though when I think back to the experiences of my childhood I realize that I haven’t always been as fine a host as the examples I was given. It’s a good reminder for me today.

If you’re in the area, stop on by. I’ll start a pot of coffee and the tea kettle will be boiling.

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Love & Dancing Through the Generations

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As Wendy and I went through pictures from her sister’s wedding last weekend, we realized that a picture Madison took of the two of us dancing reminded us of one of our favorite pictures of my parents dancing at a Jaycee’s event when they were young. We thought they bookended one another nicely. Not only that, but my dad and I look like we’re wearing the same glasses!

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Deuteronomy 2

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Long Road in Montana
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 God, your God, has blessed you in everything you have done. He has guarded you in your travels through this immense wilderness. For forty years now, God, your God, has been right here with you. You haven’t lacked one thing. Deuteronomy 2:7 (MSG)

A week or so ago our family was gathered for dinner and somewhere in the middle of the conversation my parents began to reminisce about some specific ways God had been good to our family, recalling particular instances when God worked in mysterious, even miraculous ways.

I was glad for the conversation and glad for my daughters there, hearing the stories. I have my own stories to share as I look back over 45 years. Some of them I’ve told and some they likely have yet to hear. It’s good to know how God’s faithfulness extends through generations. Today’s chapter is one of a regular stream of instances in which God tells the people to remember all that He’s done for them.

As my mind wanders back to being a child spending Sundays at the dinner table with my parents and grandparents, I remember sitting in church singing a sweet little hymn:

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
Count your blessings name them one by one.
Count your blessings see what God has done.

And so, like Moses and his followers, I let my mind wander back over 40+ years and remember all the ways I’m incredibly blessed. Counting blessings is a great attitude adjuster.

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day 1 Chronicles 17

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Paving the way. “And now I’m telling you this: God himself will build you a house! When your life is complete and you’re buried with your ancestors, then I’ll raise up your child to succeed you, a child from your own body, and I’ll firmly establish his rule. He will build a house to honor me, and I will guarantee his kingdom’s rule forever.” 1 Chronicles 17:10b-12 (MSG)

I sat in the high school gym with my daughter’s Geography teacher. It was parent-teacher conferences and I was there to get a snapshot of how my daughter was doing in class. Her teacher looked at me and chuckled.

“You daughter has seen more of the world than I have. In some ways, she knows more about Geography than I do!” he said.

I got his point. My eldest daughter is barely 20, and both of my daughters have been around the world to share the love of Christ with others. Thailand, India, Romania, Costa Rica, Panama, Morocco, and Mexico to be exact. When I was their age, I could not have fathomed having the breadth of experiences and opportunities that they have had to make a difference in other people’s lives.

As I have supported their journies, prayed for them, and watched them grow, my mind has often wandered back to this chapter in 1 Chronicles. I watch my children give themselves to the work and I’m proud of them. In many ways, they have already seen more and experienced more in their 20 years than I have in all of my 40 (plus a few). God willing, my road will take me many places before my journey is through. Nevertheless, I accept that they will experience things and accomplish things of which I never dreamed.

David was a warrior and his road led through wilderness and battle. His road paved the way for his son, Solomon, who would enjoy a road that led through peace and knowledge. David’s road made the way for Solomon’s. My parents road paved the way for me. My road paves the way for my children. There is a subtle and holy order in that.

My job is to walk the path I’m given, and to prepare and support my children for the path God has for them.

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Isaiah 59

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Tom & Girls 2010 05 "As for me," God says, "this is my covenant with them: My Spirit that I've placed upon you and the words that I've given you to speak, they're not going to leave your mouths nor the mouths of your children nor the mouths of your grandchildren. You will keep repeating these words and won't ever stop." God's orders. Isaiah 59:21 (MSG)

In the bay window of our dining room is a Dutch family Bible. It belonged my paternal Great-grandparents. I also have the Bible my maternal grandfather's uncle, James Hendrickson, used in the pulpit as a Methodist pastor in Iowa and Illinois. Another treasured posession that's passed on to me is my maternal great-grandmother's Bible. Great Grandma Daisy was the matriarch of my mother's family, and her children and grandchildren tell stories of how her faith held the family together.

It's been a time of transition in the past year. One daughter is married and off on her own. The other is graduated, moved out to take a job as a nanny, and heads to college in the fall. The nest is empty, and I have to be honest that I've been grieving a bit of late. I told a friend this, and he asked if I was surprised by my grief. I guess that I am.

I've always known that my job was to raise my children to release them. It's part of the faith journey and life cycle Isaiah alludes to. It's part of the faith covenant that carries on through time like Bibles passed on to bear witness to the faith of previous generations. I'm so blessed to watch my daughters stepping out to be the next generation. It's good. It's right. It's as it should be.

There's just a little sadness in the transition.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-day 2 Kings 24

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Generations. 

In God's opinion he also was an evil king, no different from his father

. 2 Kings 24:9 (MSG)

It's funny to watch certain behavioral traits pass down through generations. If you grew up in my family and found yourself in the bathroom when everyone else was at the table ready to eat, you were labeled "Uncle Garrett" because some old guy a few generations before had a habit of always being on the pot at meal time. When a person in my wife's family behaves in an authoritatively stubborn way, they are said to have inherited the Vander Hart gene.

Sometimes these behavioral patterns that flow through families are silly and the source of lots of ribbing and laughter. Sometimes they are simply annoying and you roll your eyes when they surface. Other times, however, they can be spiritually unhealthy and destructive. One of the themes that sticks out like a sore thumb in our journey through the Book of Kings is the perpetuation of sin and evil across generations. Time after time I read a verse like the one above from today's chapter. "Chip off the ol' block" is not always a good thing.

Today, I'm reminded that I am responsible for my own behavior and following God may require me to take a clearly different path than the well-worn trail that was blazed by earlier generations in my family. Following in Jesus' footsteps is a journey that leads us to change in ways that force to be more like Him, and less like those on the path behind us.

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day 2 Kings 21

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Madison Tom & Herman Vander Well c. 1993 LF Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. He ruled for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. In God's judgment he was a bad king—an evil king. He reintroduced all the moral rot and spiritual corruption that had been scoured from the country when God dispossessed the pagan nations in favor of the children of Israel. 2 Kings 21:1-2 (MSG)

Last night my wife and I had a friend, a professor from Central College, over for dinner. It was a wonderful evening. I thought of my grandfather, who graduated from Central in 1929. In 1927, he became a charter member of a fraternal theatrical organization which still operates within the college's theater department. I was not aware of this when I moved here six years ago.I happened upon his signature on the group's charter hanging on a wall. How ironic that eighty years later I would move to the same area and be involved with the theatrical community he helped get started. 

I look back at the generations before me, and I feel fortunate. While no one is perfect, I can look back through my father's family and my mother's family and recognize grandparents and great-grandparents who sought to live right and parent well. There are key individuals who desired to leave a legacy of faith and life which I recognize in my own life and, I pray, will continue to be lived out in my children and the generations to come.

This resonates as I think about Manasseh in today's chapter. His father, Hezekiah, was listed among the "good" kings but his legacy, realized in his son, was unparalleled evil. When confronted by Isaiah with the prophecy that his descendents would be submitted to a terrible captivity, Hezekiah's response was completely self-centered: "Well, I'll be gone by then." The first ten years of Manasseh's reign, he was co-regent with his father Hezekiah. They shared the throne as Hezekiah battled his illness. Hezekiah had every opportunity to teach and mentor his son, but he left little or no imprint of faith and righteousness.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day 1 Kings 5

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Taylor in Morocco. Solomon responded, saying, "You know that David my father was not able to build a temple in honor of God because of the wars he had to fight on all sides, until God finally put them down. 1 Kings 5:3 (MSG)

My parents grew up in the shadow of the Great Depression and World War II. While the 1950s were a time of increasing prosperity and mobility in the United States, their resources were limited along with the opportunities to travel and experience other cultures. When I was a young man, I had the priviledge of being part of a great church youth group. We traveled the state on weekends performing choir concerts and sharing God's message with different churches. During summer breaks we did short-term missions to Kentucky, South Dakota and Mexico. I had opportunities my parents could not have dreamed about when they were my age. My daughters, before graduating from high school, have ventured on missions to some of the same places I went along with Thailand, Costa Rica, Romania and Morocco.

We have been blessed to have the same experience of Solomon, fulfilling dreams and opportunities that previous generations could scarcely fathom. While some might be intimidated or even fearful of the march of time and all the change that it affords, I'm excited about it. I'm excited for my children and the opportunities they have to share God's love and message around the world. I'm glad that they've had greater and more diverse experiences than I could have imagined at their age. I'm thrilled to think of the impact they will have on lives that they touch here and around the world.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Judges 2

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Gen X. Eventually that entire generation died and was buried. Then another generation grew up that didn't know anything of God or the work he had done for Israel. Judges 2:10 (MSG)

Yesterday I received a request to write an article for the Journal of Contact Center Management. At the top of the list of topics they asked me to consider was "What are the implications of serving generation Y for contact center managers?"

Generations continue to affect us today. The "baby boomer" generation will soon be retiring and will have a profound affect on long term care and elder care issues in our country. "Gen X" is moving into middle age and coming into positions of corporate and civic leadership. "Gen Y" has filtered into the workforce and is affecting the way companies handle employees and their customers.

The book of Judges could be entitled "Exodus: The Next Generations." After their escape from Egypt and their journey through the wilderness, the Israelites now settle in the land of Canaan. Judges is the story of the succeeding generations over the next 400 years. Today's chapter introduces us to the overarching theme of the book. One generation has a leader who leads everyone to faithfully follow God. When that leader dies, the subsequent generation forgets God and falls into disobedience. Out of the disastrous consequences of their disobedience, the people realize their need and another leader (or Judge) emerges to lead them to turn back to God.

Cycles. Patterns of behavior. Judges reminds me to be mindful of the recurring patterns in my own life. It prompts me to consider my responsibility to my children, grandchildren, and the coming generations. It reminds me that I'm called not only to walk my own journey well, but also to leave a legacy for those who will follow in my footsteps.

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