Father's Day 2025 - Elder Lanny

I wasn't picked for this. I drew the short straw.

That's why I'm here. We were trying to get Owen

married and having a kid in a hurry, but that

didn't work. So you're stuck with me. I'm not

here because I'm the best father in the world.

I'm not here because I'm a good father. That's

my kids. And they'll probably have a lot of stories

about me that I wouldn't want told. But God is

good. And in the Bible, he doesn't mix words.

He shows us everything. If I would have written

the Bible, I'd miss a lot of stuff and take a

lot of stuff out of there. I wouldn't show my

dirty laundry. But God shows it to show that

we are sinners. And we need help. We need a savior.

And so I'm a father that has made mistakes. But

God realizes that unless you have him to help

you, you will always make mistakes. You will

never be making the right choice for your children.

My kids will probably tell you I've been impatient

at times. There's times I probably sludge them

off and say, go to your mom. She'll help you.

I remember one time when I was teaching my oldest

one how to drive, we had just went out the mountain

road where I thought it'd be safe. There's no

cars out there. There's nothing he can hit. And

I told him to turn here, and he turned into a

cornfield. There was a street just 15 feet away.

But I guess he was a little bit nervous with

me being the teacher. I got out of the car and

said, you're getting out and we are going home.

And this two minute lesson is over. And when

I got home and Sue said, how did it go? I said,

don't even ask. It's not good. Our daughter,

when she started learning to drive, I took her

out to Monroe too. At least she didn't go into

cornfield. But when she got her license, she

knocked off a stop sign in Kempton. That didn't

make me happy. I was not a patient father. We

got that repair at least without the insurance

company knowing about it. She then swiped the

car in the middle of Slade Dale. That wasn't

good. And then when I got the call, that really

got me, and I was not a patient father because

I told them, you're on my policy. Yes, I have

$300 ,000, but if you hit something and it's

bad, I will lose the house, we will lose the

business. And the minute she said, Dad, I knew

there was a problem. I'm in Schnecksville, and

I hit a school bus. Parents are supposed to be

patient. Well, I wasn't patient. The next day,

they canceled me. And I said, I've been with

you 25 years, and you just canceled me. They

said, get rid of your daughter. Get her off the

policy. We'll reinstate you the next day. And

then my daughter learned what I'd said. It will

cost you if you have an accident. Because she

came off the policy and she paid big time. And

no longer was dad paying for insurance. These

are the difficult things we have to do as a father.

But she had to learn a lesson. And now you're

going to pay for your own insurance and it's

going to hurt you. But I think she learned a

lesson. I have a 50 -year -old right now, 51,

and he still tries our patience. I have a 45

-year -old that didn't listen to me, and he's

got problems. Our daughter pretends she listens

to us. She called us not too long ago and said,

I'm considering getting a new position with the

University of Hawaii. What do you think, Dad?

And I said, what does it involve? She said, well,

I'm working three days a week now. It's going

to be full -time. That means I have to put the

kids in daycare full -time. I said, it's not

a good idea. It's not good. The money will come.

You need to be home for your kids. She didn't

listen. We are now going out to Hawaii, and she

is paying for it for 15 days because she can't

take a vacation for six months, and her husband's

in the military. He just got a promotion. He

can't take a vacation for six months, and she

needs somebody to watch the two kids for 15 days

because the daycare is closed. I said, if you

take this job, there will be problems. Oh, Dad,

you don't understand. It's a hard job being a

father, praying and asking God what is best for

our kids and hoping we're giving them the best

instructions, but they still have to listen.

And even after that, we'll say something. She'll

say, oh, Dad, you and Mom are old. You don't

know what it's all about. No, we don't know what

it's all about. We've just been there for all

our years, and we've made the mistakes that we

don't want you to make, and we're trying to give

you some sort of advice. So I'm not a perfect

father. I wish I could change some things. But

like I said, God doesn't hold anything back.

And all the dirty laundry is in the Bible. And

I'm going to talk today about three types of

fathers. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Jodi

gave me a good bit of advice. She said, it's

Father's Day. Let them go home on a good note,

so I'm switching it. I'm going to start with

the ugly and go back to the good ones. And the

second part of the message today will be, and

John's waiting for this, the rest of the story

with my not obeying my father and walking home

by myself when I was probably about eight years

old and not getting lost and having the cops

looking for me. The second part is a different

part. It's about a legacy that you will leave

as a father for your kids. When I was superintendent

of the Sunday school in the Slate there, we always

got a special speaker in for Father's Day and

Mother's Day. And one day I said to the board,

I'm going to mix it up this year. I'm going to

get a mother to speak for Father's Day. And they

looked at me like I had come out of the moon

or something. I said, I think it would be a good

perspective. We've never had a mother talk about

Father's Day. And they said, okay, we'll go with

it. So I asked a good Christian woman from our

sister church. And I said, would you speak for

Father's Day for us? And she said, oh, Lanny,

I had a horrible father. I don't know what I

could say. I had no idea what I could say. I

said, it would be a different perspective. We're

always praising fathers and seeing how good fathers

are, but people need to know that some of them

out there need God and need to know how to be

a father. And unless they have God, they'll never

know how to be a good father. And so she came.

And the thing that struck my mind was she said,

I wish one thing my father would have given me.

And that was a legacy. I have nothing to say

about my father except he was my father. How

sad. But it got our attention that when we leave

this earth, will we have a legacy for our kids?

Will somebody at my funeral? say one or two good

things about me. Not that I taught them how to

fish or hunt or taught them how to drive, but

I taught them about Christ and how they should

live a life that would be pleasing to him. Some

shred of evidence that I made a difference in

somebody's life, that I have some sort of legacy.

And that's the second part. So as we look at

this today, I picked a scripture, and it's another

funny story because... I'll read it first, John

14, 8. Philip said, Lord, show us a father, and

that is all we need. That's enough for us. Just

show us a father. And Jesus said, don't you know

me, Philip? I've been with you such a long time.

Anyone who's seen me has seen a father. How can

you say, show us a father? Don't you believe

that I and the Father are one? The Father is

in me. When I was 12 years old, I went to the

post office in Slatedale. And they spoke Pennsylvania

Dutch back then. And I walked in, and the guy

that was standing there said to the postmaster,

I know he said, who is he in Dutch? That's what

I found out later. And he looked at me and said,

he's Tootie Saiboo. And I thought, what did he

call me? My father's name was Tootie, and I was

Tootie's boy, Tootie Saiboo. And I said, I've

never met you. How do you know I'm Tootie's son?

He said, you have a big nose and bushy eyebrows.

I can see it. I look like my father. If you've

seen my father, you've seen me. It's comical.

Except my daughter plucks her eyebrows. But she

can't do anything about her big nose. When they

see her, they see me. Now we have some serious

business to get to. An ugly father. There's a

lot of ugly fathers out there. It doesn't matter

who your parents are, who your relation is. It

doesn't matter when it comes to being a father.

Lot was Abraham's nephew. You'd think that would

account for something, but it didn't. Genesis

Genesis 19:1–8

19, verses 1 through 8. The two angels arrived

at Sodom in the evening and Lot was sitting there

in the gateway of the city. That's important

right there. He was a hypocrite. He was living

in a sinful city. He should have known better.

He's sitting at the gate trying to be some kind

of judge. And he has no right to be a judge.

He said he saw the men. He got up and bowed down

to them and put his face to the ground. My Lord,

he said, please turn aside to your servant's

house. You can wash your feet and spend the night

and go on your way early in the morning. Know

the answer, we will spend the night in the square.

But he insisted so strongly that they did go

with him and entered his house. He prepared a

meal for them, bacon bread without yeast, and

they ate. And before they had gone to bed, all

the men of every part of the city of Sodom, both

the young and old, surrounded the house. They

called to Lot, where are the men who came with

you tonight? Bring them out here so that we can,

you know what, with them. Lot went outside to

meet and shut the door behind him and said, no,

my friends, don't do this wicked thing. Look,

I have two daughters. I will bring them out for

you. It doesn't get any uglier than that. I can

barely say that, the thought that a man would

think of doing something like that. But God doesn't

hide anything. He shows us exactly what men are

like, what the world is like without him. Ugly

father, how can anyone even imagine doing something

like this? But it's there for us to read, to

understand that men can be horrible, not have

any concern whatsoever for their family, and

do such a horrific thing like this. I just can't

even imagine it, the thought of it. A father

is supposed to nurture, protect, and care for

his children. That's what God says. We are responsible

for them. not to do some despicable thing like

this. You can make excuses and say, well, he

had the lesser of two evils to choose beside.

Was he going to send the angels out or send his

kids out? So he had no choice. Sin is sin. There's

no two choices here. Both were sinful, and he

chose a horrible choice. Looked like the angels

spared his daughters. Does this happen today

yet, or is this just in the Bible? Up to last

year, we supported Bo Raines and his family in

India. They came off the field last year. Bo

Raines was a soccer player, and he went to India

with one specific purpose, and that was to teach

young men and boys how to play soccer. And with

it, we'd teach them the gospel. Because the habit

in India was, if you couldn't afford a daughter,

you sold her into prostitution. And Bo was trying

his best. to save as many dollars as he could.

And that's why he went to India. It happens today

yet. There are still ugly fathers out there today

that don't know how God wants them to live a

life and please him. So it does happen today.

And I said, only without God reaching the person

can there be a change. Because while we all are

sinful, we would be like that person if we didn't

have... the grace that God has given us and changed

our lives, we would be that ugly person. Thank

God that he's changed some of us and made us

the person that we are today. Well, Jody, I got

the ugly one out of the way. There are some bad

fathers in the Bible also. Fathers that neglect

their family or are more concerned about their

wealth and their possessions in doing what God

has commanded them to do. This is a long one,

so I will read this one. It's 1 Samuel 25, verses

1 Samuel 25:2–17

2 to 17. You should all be familiar with this

story. Then David moved down into the desert

of Moan. A certain man in Moan who had property

there in Carmel was very wealthy. He had a lot

of possessions. He had 1 ,000 goats and 3 ,000

sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. His name

was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. She

was intelligent and beautiful. But her husband,

Akebonai, was surly and mean in his dealings.

When David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal

was shearing sheep. So he sent ten young men

and said to them, Go up to Nabal at Carmel and

greet him in my name. Say to him, Long life to

you, good health to you and your household, and

good health to all that is yours. Now I hear

that it is sheep -shearing time. When the shepherds

were with us, We did not mistreat them. And the

whole time they were at Carmel, nothing of theirs

was missing. We took care of them for you. Ask

your own servants, and they will testify to this.

Therefore, be favorable toward my young men,

since we have come at a festive time. Please

give your servants to your son David, whatever

you find for them. When David's men arrived,

they gave Nabal a message in David's name, and

they waited. Nabal was greedy, conceited. prideful,

what is mine is mine. God will not get any of

it. Not teaching his children the way God wanted

us to be good stewards. Nabal answered David's

servant, who is this David? Who is the son of

Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their

masters these days. Why should I take my bread

and my water and meat that I have slaughtered

from my shears and give it to men coming from

who knows where? David's men turned around and

went back. And when they arrived, they reported

every word. David said to his men, put on your

swords. So they put on his swords and David put

on his also. He took 400 men with him. And guess

what they were going to do? To kill Nabal and

all his household. The men went to Abigail, the

wife, and told her what had happened. And she

realized how bad her husband was in treating

God's servant. And she took out. bread and other

things for the men and came before David and

said, forgive my husband. He is a mean and miserable

man. He is a fool. That's what his name means.

And David said, far be it that you would not

come. I would have committed murder. I would

have killed Nabal and all of his male children.

No one would have survived till morning because

David realized this man was evil and needed to

be put to death. And so this man, jeopardize

his family because he was greedy and stingy and

didn't recognize God's servants. We ought to

recognize God's servants and treat them well.

We ought to recognize that God has given us our

possessions, not so we can hang on to them, but

to give them back to him. Whenever he's given

us wealth, we're supposed to share it. We're

supposed to be good stewards of it and make sure

that we're not just hoarding it for some time.

But in this particular case, He was not doing

what he should be doing. Does it happen today?

Are there still bad men like this? One of the

saddest things I heard from White's Christmas

tree farm in Freedon's. I used to buy greens

off of him. And he said, you want to hear a good

one? I said, yeah, sure. He said, what really

gets me is when I look down from my house at

the trees in the field and I see a car pull up.

And a man gets out and takes off his Sunday jacket

and his tie and goes in the field with his son

and a saw and they cut down one of my trees.

A father is bringing his son home from church

and teaches him how to steal a Christmas tree.

Pretty bad, isn't it? There are bad fathers today

yet because they haven't been taught. They haven't

had God touch them, let them realize that there's

a better way. Back then, a Christmas tree cost

about 20 bucks. You were risked. The future of

your son, over $20. Hang on to $20 and teach

your kid how to steal a Christmas tree. I'll

say it. Engaging your kids, it does still happen

today. The second one I think we all should know

about, and that is Eli, the priest, who had two

wicked sons, Phoenicians and Habniah. It says

in 1 Samuel 2, 12 -16, Eli's sons were wicked

men. They had no regard for the Lord. Now, it

was a practice that the priest, when the people

came with an offering and a sacrifice, while

the meat was being boiled, the servant was allowed

to take a three -pronged fork and plunge it into

the pan or kettle or cauldron, and whatever came

up, that would be used for the priest and also

for the servants of the priest. But this is how

they treated all the Israelites. This was the

way it was done. But even before the fat was

burned, his sons would say, Give us now before

we boil this. We don't like boiled meat. We like

raw meat. So they were blaspheming the sacrifice

of the Lord. They were treating the Lord's offering

with contempt. In chapter 3, verse 13, this is

what it says. For I told him, Eli, that I would

judge his family forever because of the sin he

knew about and did nothing about it. He knew

about it. He knew what his sons were doing. He

knew his sons were corrupt and blaspheming gods,

and he did nothing about it. His sons have made

themselves contemptible. His son says, blaspheming

God, and Eli refrained from restraining them.

He looked the other way. The guilt of Eli and

his household will never be atoned for by any

sacrifice or any offering. It's pretty plain,

isn't it? It's hard to discipline your kids.

It's hard to, oh, I've got to go tell them again.

I don't want to. I don't want to be a father

today. One of the hardest things I had to do,

my son was a missionary in New York City, preaching

the gospel, and he got in trouble in New York.

He did something he should not have done. And

I got a call from Word of Life in Scroon Lake,

and they said, is your son home? And I said,

yes. And Sam Fry, who was in charge of opening

evangelism, said, did your son talk to you? I

said, no. I said, he's going to New York this

weekend to pass out food baskets for the homeless.

He said, I think I better talk to you. He said,

we've asked Lanny to resign. He's been doing

something in New York which is wrong. It's been

brought to our attention, and we have to ask

him to resign from the mission field. I never

thought as a father I'd have to experience that

to go down and tell my son, who was a missionary,

that he was not allowed to go back to New York

City. I went down and told my son, son, you are

not fit to preach the gospel this weekend. Oh,

God, why don't you ask somebody else to do this?

Because I was a father. That had to do it. I

said, I will not allow you as your father to

go down in New York this weekend. You will stay

with us. We will help you to heal. We will restore

you into God's favor. And we did. That was the

other side of being a father. Letting him know

that he has crossed the line. Letting him know

that he has sinned against God. But letting him

know that we are there for him. And we got him

counseling. And he spent about a year in our

house. And then he went back on his own again.

But that discipline was one of the hardest things

I ever had to do as a father. If I had turned

away like Eli, God help us. You have to make

some really tough decisions as a father. And

you make a choice. Either I do or I don't. It's

not an easy job. Sue wanted five. I'm glad she

stopped at three. Or I probably wouldn't have

any hair left. Because there have been some trying

times. But we have a tough job to do. It's not

an easy job. And some fathers shrink away from

it. But if you're following what God wants you

to do, you do what he asks you to do. At whatever

cost. Whatever hurt it costs you, you have to

do it. You have no choice in the matter. And

as I said, that was one of the hardest things

I ever had to do as a father. There's good news

coming. The Bible shows us the ugly, the bad,

but shows us good. And Job was a good father.

He's our example. It says in the land of Uz,

there lived a man whose name was Job. The man

was blameless, upright, feared God, shunned evil.

He had seven sons and three daughters. He was

the greatest man among all the peoples of the

East. He provided for his children. It said they

all had their own houses. They had their own

servants. They had their own oxen, their own

donkeys. He was generous toward his children.

He also, though, gave them liberty. The scripture

says don't exasperate your children. Discipline

them, correct them. but give them some space.

Don't hover over them all the time. It was a

lesson that I had to learn because I thought

if I didn't, I'd be missing something. They'd

go left or right, and I hovered over them a little

bit too much. He allowed his children youthful

liberty, feasting, but it says he didn't allow

them youthful lusts. He put a limit on it. They're

going to have some feasting, but I'm watching

them. And when they step over the line, I'm going

to let them know they've stepped over the line.

But just in case, he said that they cursed God

or just said something wrong about God. When

the feasting was over, he made them come and

he would purify them. Each and every one of them,

give sacrifices for them. Not just, okay, all

you guys gather around, all 10 of you, you're

blessed and that's it. He did a sacrifice for

each and every individual child to make sure

they were covered if they had sinned against

God. because he was still the priest of the family.

Even though they had left his home and his household,

he was still the priest, the one in charge of

them, the one to watch over them. And so it says

that he instructed them to come purify themselves,

and when a period of feasting was done, he did

his course, what he always did, every time. Early

in the morning, he would sacrifice for them,

and he said this was his regular custom, every

time that they had a feasting or a party, let's

say, at his house, at their house. He would make

sure he sacrificed for them. He was highly respected,

Job 29, 7 -11. When I went to the gate and took

my seat at the public square, whoever heard me

spoke well of me, and those that saw me commended

me. He was fair and honest, Job 29, 12 -17. I

rescued the poor who cried for help, the fathers

who had none to assist them. I was the eyes of

the blind and feet of the lame. I was father

to the needy. He was a wise counselor, Job 29,

21 to 24. Men listened to me expectantly, waiting

in silence for my counsel. He was an honest employer,

Job 31, 13 to 15. I had not denied justice for

any of my manservants or maidservants. He was

hospitable and generous, Job 31, 16 to 21. Let

my arm fall off of the shoulder if I had deprived

anyone who deserves rescue. or poor. I have kept

not my bread to myself. I have given everything

that I have to others. I have seen anyone perish.

I have not seen anyone perish that I could give

clothing to. And lastly, it says he was even

a farmer of crops. Job 31, 38 -40. Even the land

cannot cry against me. I've even treated the

land properly. That's a good man. I don't know

what else we could say about him. All that he

did. And yet even he was, what, put through trials

to be tested to see just how he was. As I said,

I hovered over my kids a little bit too much,

and Sue said, lighten up a little bit. They're

teenagers. Our son Daniel was kind of shy, and

I thought it would be good for him to get around

other teenagers, get out there away from me.

And Eustace Christ was around at the area. And

so I drove, and this isn't just how to do it.

I drove an hour up to Strasburg. We'd sit in

the car for two hours while the meeting went

on, then drive back again. It was pretty cold

in the wintertime, but I didn't want to be in

there. John Miller said, you can come in. I said,

no, this is his time with other kids and with

you. But I knew he was getting sad teaching away

from me, getting it from another perspective.

He needed time of feasting because there was

no way he was going to drink a liter of Coke

and eat 10 pieces of pizza in my living room.

No way. No. He could do it somewhere else, but

not in my place. And so if he wants to mess up

John Miller's room, that's fine with me. More

power to you. But he needed that time to get

away from me and get a perspective of the gospel

from somebody else. Okay? Our daughter went one

time, she won a burping contest and never went

back. Imagine. They're not going to burp in my

house. You're going to tell them, what's wrong

with you? But they had a burping contest. Let

your kids have some fun. Lighten up a little

bit, right? They have to. Okay? It's all part

of it. But don't exasperate your kids. Make sure

you give them some time for themselves. All right?

The perfect father. There is a perfect father.

We haven't seen him yet. We've read about him.

He's all through this book. One day we will see

him. But we've read about his son. And he said,

if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. And

we've seen everything that we need to see. Jesus

was no respecter of persons. He was loving. He

was kind. He was just. He healed the sick. He

fed the hungry. He wept for those that were suffering

loss. He restored the sight to the blind. He

brought back those who had died to their loved

ones. He exercised discipline when necessary.

He taught us about the Heavenly Father. He never

left us alone. He said he would never lose any

that had been trusted to him. He showed us mercy

and kindness, taught us how to pray, how to resist

temptation and the wiles of the devil. He told

us he was preparing a place for us so that we

could dwell with him for all of eternity. Around

the clock, he's always available to answer any

concern or problem we have. And he knew us before

we were even born. And I could go on and on.

The scripture backs it up. Matthew 5, 48, be

perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is

perfect. Psalm 18, 30, as for God, his way is

perfect. Psalm 19, 7, the law of the Lord is

perfect. 1 Corinthians 13, 10, when the perfection

comes. Psalm 51 and 2, the mighty one, the God,

the Lord from Zion, perfect in beauty. Luke 11,

11, which of you fathers, if your son asks for

a fish, will give him a snake? If you then who

are evil and know how to give good gifts, how

much more will your Father in heaven give you

that perfect gift, the Holy Spirit, which will

be with you for all of eternity until I come

back to get you? In Hebrews 1 .3, the Son is

the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation

of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful

word. So we have not yet seen the perfect father,

but we've seen a good representation of him in

the Bible. And remember what I said, the Bible

tells us all, the ugly, the bad, and the good.

And it shows us what the father is like. He also

talks about a perfect father which will discipline

us, and God does. Sometimes we wonder, and then

we realize, yeah, there's no wonder. I shouldn't

have did this, Lord. You're right. I shouldn't

have been here. I shouldn't have been there.

That's a perfect father. It says if your father

does not discipline, then you are an illegitimate

child. But God disciplines us because he cares

about us. And he wants us to go on that straight

path and stops us before we get off that path.

I won't tell you the times that he stopped me.

That's between me and him. But there were times

that he stopped me and said, Lanny, I love you.

Don't do that. And I am the man I am today because

he stopped me. When my father wasn't around to

stop me, God stopped me. And every one of us

have children that are on their own sometimes.

And that's when you pray, God, I'm not there,

but would you stop them? Would you stop them

from doing what I know they're going to try to

do before they do it? And one minute could ruin

their life. But we're glad we have a Heavenly

Father that's perfect in every way. And even

when we are imperfect, he watches over us and

takes care of our children. I talked about this

lady that said she had no legacy of her father.

How sad. It is sad. John, here comes the rest

of the story. We talked about last week about

me not obeying my father and walking home when

I was eight years old, and luckily I got there.

My dad, oh boy, I tell you, I thought my sister

was bawling. She said, you're going to get it.

Got in the cops, they were looking all over town

for me, and I had walked home by myself. My dad

never taught a Sunday school class. He never

was involved in church at all. He took us, he

went, but never had any position of authority

or anything that I know of. And yet, I realized

later in life that he was the Bible I saw. I

saw in him the Heavenly Father. If you've seen

Dad, you've seen the Heavenly Father. And that's

a legacy I have from him. When I thought I'd

be in my room all night and not have supper,

he came in, and I not knowing what was going

on, he said, I love you, but you caused me a

lot of worry tonight. I thought I'd lost you.

He said, you know what you did was wrong. And

I said, yes. You know, you disobeyed me. I said,

yes. He said, the next time when I ask you to

do something, will you obey me and listen to

me? And I said, yes. And you know what he said?

Then I forgive you. And it's forgotten. A couple

years later when I heard a pastor say, you messed

up a lot. But the father says he forgives you

if you're willing to admit that you sinned against

him. And he will forget it. And he will tell

you he loves you. My father, who never taught

a Sunday school class, gave me the gospel right

there. I don't know if he knew it. But he gave

it to me in plain, simple terms. You have sinned

against me. I forgive you. Don't do it again.

That's a legacy that I have of my father. The

second point, my father wasn't perfect. He was

impatient at times. And he taught us. We didn't

have the money. My brother was sick a lot. A

lot of the money went for medication. And he

wanted to take us fishing. We had three of us.

He didn't have the money to buy a license. He

couldn't buy a license. So he said, Lane, I'm

going to teach you how to make that double loop.

So we've ripped a line. You can fix it. And how

to put the hook through. And I practiced. I really

did. I tried. And I got it. And I said, Dad,

I can do it. Look at it. He said, good. I taught

you well. Fishing day, no problems. We're going

to go fishing. First time I throw in, I got a

rock bass. Ripped the line. He said, okay, son.

I taught you how to do it. You can do it. Well,

fishing back then was 5 in the morning. It was

pitch black. I hadn't practiced in the dark.

I practiced during the daytime when I could see

my hands. And it was cold that morning. My hands

were freezing. I couldn't do it. I tried, and

he got impatient with me. And he said, didn't

I teach you how to do this? He said, I did this

so you wouldn't have this problem. And I didn't

understand him. How could he be so impatient

with me over a little thing like this? Well,

I injured an insult. My sister had to go up and

show me how to do it. So she went up with me

to the street where the light was, and she fixed

it. We came back down, and I could fish the rest

of the day. But that bothered me. How could my

dad be so impatient with me? If he loves me,

how could he do that to me? Well, there's a story

in the Bible about that, and that is Jesus was

talking about them not bringing bread, and the

disciples said, what are you talking about bread

for? We have no idea what's going on. And Jesus

got disturbed with them and said, have I been

with you so long and you guys don't get it? I'm

not talking about bread. I'm talking about other

things. Was Jesus impatient with them? Yes. Why?

Because he was trying to teach them a life lesson

and they missed it. Because he wasn't going to

be with them much longer. And he was trying to

share something with them that they could have

for the rest of their life, the gospel. And yes,

Jesus was impatient with them, but for a reason.

Like my dad was impatient. This was something

important. He said, I want to teach you how to

do things. You know, if you don't learn this,

when I teach you how to use a hammer, when I

teach you how to use a saw, you're going to miss

the boat. And I want you to know these things.

So that's why Jesus was impatient with them at

this time. And lastly, I don't have to look at

my notes for this one. We, uh, she was at home

with the kids for... I guess 10 years. So we

didn't build our house until we were 38 years

old. She wasn't working. She was home with the

kids. We thought that was important. And my uncle's

mother had died, and he couldn't get any insurance

on the farm, the buildings, the equipment, nothing.

And he said, why don't you come up and live on

the farm? He said, I won't charge you rent. You

can live there rent -free. Just pay for the electric.

the oil, and just mow the grass for me, help

me out in the field. And that's what I did. I

helped bring the hay and helped other things.

I plowed for him. And then after 13 years, we

finally said, you know what? We're going to try

to build our own home. So we went to the contractor.

We got the price. $65 ,000. Back then, that was

a lot of money. In the 80s, 12 % interest. They

complain about 4 % and 5 % now. $625 .25. I'll

never forget. And I was scared. We hadn't had

a mortgage or rent for 13 years. And we were

barely making it now. So how are we going to

do this? And so where did I go? To my father.

And he said, what do you need, son? I said, I

need to talk. Sit down, he said. What does the

Heavenly Father say? Come before me. Sit down.

Let's have a talk. And I said, Dad, we... We're

thinking of building, you know that. He said,

oh, he was so happy for us. And I said, I don't

know if we can make it or not. I'm self -employed

in wintertime. I got nothing. I mean, I can try

to find other jobs, but December through April,

we won't have any money coming in. And it's $625

a month. I said, I don't know if we get in trouble.

What's going to happen? We could lose the house.

He looked at me and said, son, they will never

take this house away from you. Never. I'm your

father. And I won't let that happen. What does

the Heavenly Father say? Jesus said, those that

the Father has given to me, no one will take

them away from me. They are mine. And don't you

try to mess with them. My dad taught me another

lesson from the Bible without preaching a word.

And I'll tell you something else. The Bible says

that the Father knows our need before we even

ask it. I would walk in the house and he would

say, Mom, Lanny's here for money. He just knew

in my face because he knew I wouldn't ask for

it. And she would come out with $625 and 25 cents

in cash. I didn't have to wait for them to go

to the bank. I didn't have to wait for a check

to clear. He knew I needed now and then or I

wouldn't have come for it. And he answered me

on the spot, met all my needs. And if I needed

the next month and I came in, he'd say, Mom,

Lanny needs money. And he got paid back, but

he never asked for it. If it took me till April,

he never said a word. He never taught a Sunday

school lesson. He never was a deacon. He never

was an elder. But he was a good father who taught

me the heavenly father. And I have a legacy of

my father. It's hard because some people don't

have a good father. And they wish they did. But

I'll tell you what, my wife had a horrible father.

He walked out on six kids. No support. She had

to put the four boys into the home. She would

take Sue and her sister to work with her. And

they stayed in the locker room at Phoebe's home

where she was a nurse's aide. She worked a night

shift. That's where they stayed till morning.

And one by one, the mother got the kids out of

the home. But God provided for her. There was

a youth director that took her by the side and

was a father for her. And my father. became her

father. God will provide. So even people out

there that have a bad, bad father and bad experience,

God will provide for you. Someone in your life,

there will be someone that he will send to you

to help you to get over the hump for some of

the things that you have gone through. Because

God is that perfect father and that perfect provider.

As I said, I wasn't picked for this because I'm

a good father. I've made a lot of mistakes. But

hopefully, We look at the Bible and we see that

there is hope if God is our father. And he's

the one that teaches us what is right and what

is wrong and how we can impart that to our kids.

And if I messed up with Lanny, and if I messed

up with Daniel, and if I messed up with Michelle,

I got grandkids and I can try to make it up.

And little Larry says, you're a good grandpa.

And that makes me feel good. We get our opportunities.

Sometimes we miss the opportunities we're given,

but God gives us other opportunities. And when

he says, can I stay here, Grandpa? Say, no, just

for the weekend. You're going back home. Okay,

he says. That's good enough. Let's pray. Father,

it is not easy being an earthly father. Oh, it's

not easy. It's so hard. One day, Father, I pray

that we will realize that we've done the best

that we could do. We've made mistakes. We haven't

been faithful to you, perhaps, in teaching them

some of the things we should teach them. We've

been impatient. We've been too busy for them.

We've worked too hard. All the things we could

say we did wrong. But we're thankful, Father,

that in all our mistakes, you were there for

us, too, that when we missed up, you were there

to help them to stay on a straight path. We ask,

Father, that you would touch each and every father

here, each and every grandfather here, each and

every father to be, and in a very special way,

help them each and every day to be what you want

them to be, the father for their children or

the father for their grandchildren, and also

to be good husbands. We thank you and praise

you for everything you've done for us and will

do in Christ's name. Amen.