“The Good, ‘Ole Days”

There’s no doubt I miss them:

“The good, ‘ole days.”

Yes, I miss those days of yore when life seemed simple and cares seemed few: where the adults would sit on the front porch, sippin’ iced tea on a Sunday afternoon while the kids would play in the yard or go shoot snakes or frogs in the rice field canal with a .22 rifle.

Times were tough and money was scarce; but, we didn’t seem to care: because work on the farm taught us the importance “a day’s pay for a day’s work” and a “handshake sealed the deal.”

Back then, if we had a problem with someone at school, we’d go out behind the bleachers on the football field and duke it out.  But, there was never the temptation to go get our trusty deer rifle off the rack in the back window of our unlocked pickup truck in the school parking lot and start killing people.

No, we’d engage in fisticuffs (not mass killings), wipe our bloody noses, shake hands and go on like nothin’ had happened.  But, oh, how things have changed!

Yes, no longer can you go to bed at night and leave the back door unlocked or your keys in your car; neither did we worry about getting shot by a deranged killer when we went to the post office, supermarket or especially at church!

But, oh, how things have changed!!

Something happened over the years when we moved from outhouses to indoor plumbing and black-and-white televisions with rabbit-ear antennas to 5G telephones and high-speed internets.

Yes, something happened from the time when the pastor was the most respected man in town and always got invited over to someone’s house after Sunday’s service for some good, ‘ole friend chicken (the Baptist bird): along with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, corn bread and hot, homemade apple pie with ice cream.

Did I tell you I miss “the good, ‘ole days??”

Yep, I do: and, sadly, those days are gone for good UNLESS we do what we can to recapture them today.

Gone are the days when everything centered around the church and “dinner on the ground.”  Gone are the days when children dressed up in bathrobes and cardboard crowns as the wise men in the Christmas play:

Or moms made white robes for the angels—complete with wings covered with aluminum foil and a halo made out of a coat hanger, covered with silver or gold tinsel strands used to adorn the Christmas tree.

But, there’s nothing to say we can’t slow down, catch our breath and say “Lord, we need Your help.  Yes, help us to focus on what’s ‘important’ instead of being held captive by the ‘urgent.’  Teach us that fellowship is more important than accolades or achievements: and loving You (and others) is more important than fame and fortune.”

Who knows?

Reassessing our priorities and reexamining our “passionate pursuits” (the things we deed “important”) might just help keep us from living life with one foot on the gas pedal and the other one on the brake.  And, maybe, just maybe, we might even better hear God’s “still, small Voice” so we can enjoy His sweet, promised Rest (Matthew 11:28-30).

Life’s too short to be squandered or “saved for a rainy day.”  It’s to be lived for God’s Glory and others’ good.  

So, here’s hoping you’ll join me in creating some new, “good, ‘ole days” so our children and grandchildren can enjoy what we used to take for granted.  Teach them what’s important (according to God’s Word) and how to “love Him with all their heart, mind, soul and strength.”

Let it be, O Lord, let it be.  Amen and amen.

          (NOTE:  If you’d like to contact Bro. Tom or receive his daily devotional, entitled “Morning Manna,” you can e-mail him at pressingon@hotmail.com).