Amber Trees Publishing

06/11/2025

(published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, a Father's Day story)

On His Knees

In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help From His temple He heard my voice; my cry came before Him, into His ears. -Psalm18:6
*****
My dad probably never envisioned becoming a husband and father by the time he was nineteen. That was a lot of responsibility, but it was nothing compared to what was to come. Leap forward eleven years, and he and Mom had four daughters. I was number three.

With their combined incomes, my parents bought a big, new house. We moved in, but just a few months later, their marriage fell apart, and Mom moved out. That meant Dad not only had to raise four daughters alone, but he also had to pay for a two-income house with one income.

Becoming a suddenly single parent is always a struggle, but much more so for a man trying his best to raise girls. Mom had handled most of the girl stuff, like helping us fix our hair in the morning or hemming our skirts. Dad knew little about cooking or housework. He hired babysitters and housekeepers, always with disastrous results. So, in the end, the five of us winged it together. In the morning, I’d walk myself to school, which was right across the street. After school, I’d walk home and wait in the garage till my older sisters got home. I never told them that I was afraid to go into a house that had sat empty all day.

Long after dark, Dad would arrive home. He was exhausted from ten-hour days, and though I didn’t know it then, he was also deeply troubled by the breakup with Mom. Even so, every night after work, he’d stop to spend time with us. We’d crawl all over him and tell him the complaints we’d waited to lodge against each other.

After a while, Dad would stand up and say, “Girls, I just need a few quiet minutes,” and then he’d disappear into the bedroom.
Soon, we would start quarreling amongst ourselves, and we’d look around for our chief problem-solver.

“Dad!” we’d scream almost in unison. By then, we’d forgotten that he wanted time alone. We’d burst into his room to tattle, and find Dad kneeling by his bed in prayer.

Those chaotic days are a blur now, but seeing Dad on his knees, humbling himself before God, is a sight I will never forget. His world had turned upside-down, draining his energy, but he knew where to go to renew his strength. He knew it was God who equipped him to go through one more day as the suddenly single father of four. Whether he realized it then or not, he was also setting an example for his daughters.

These days, if I run out of strength. I remember where to go to renew the supply. There’s a saying, “When times get tough, the tough get on their knees.” Like my dad, I get on my knees, and I feel restored.

05/13/2025

Batter Up!

Every day after work, Dad would walk to Spencer’s school and together they’d walk home, past the city baseball park. On Friday’s the ballpark was bursting with noise from a city baseball game. Spencer wanted to see what was happening, but a tall wooden fence blocked the view.

“Can we go in, Dad?” Spencer asked one day.

“The game’s almost over now,” said Dad “Let’s wait until we can see a whole game.”

Then Spencer noticed something. “I can see second base through this knothole.”

From another knothole, he could see third base. “But now I can’t see second base anymore. No fair!”

Then Dad said, “There’s a bigger knothole up ahead. Go check it out.”

Spencer ran to it. “Dad! The batter just made it to second base!”

“Can you see home plate?”

“No,” Spencer said, disappointed. “I can still only see part of the action.”

“Knotholes are like that,” Dad said as they walked. “When I was a kid, your grandpa used to tell me that most of life is like a knothole.”

Spencer made a face. “What does that mean?”

“It means we only see what’s right in front of us, like through a knothole. We get anxious to see more. Like during when my company shut down, I worried, but I shouldn’t have because God could see what lay ahead.”

“So, it’s like God sees the ballgame from inside the ballpark,” said Spencer.

“Yes, but better than that, because He already knows how it will end. God had a better job waiting for me. Hey, next Friday I get off work early. I’ll buy tickets and we can actually go to the game.”

“Can we get hot dogs for dinner?”

“Of course!”

Waiting a whole week was hard for Spencer. But when the day came, it was just like Dad promised. They saw the game from beginning to end, from good seats, and feasted on hot dogs.

“Was it worth the wait?” Dad asked.

“Totally. Tonight we had God’s view, sort of.”

“That’s right,” laughed Dad. “People like you and me who trust Jesus as our Savior, will someday live with Him in heaven, and have the best seats in heaven’s ballpark. No waiting, no charge.”

“And no knotholes!” added Spencer.

************************

Do you ever get tired of waiting for things to happen? Or wonder why God doesn’t just show us what the future will be? We all feel that way sometimes. God alone knows the future. Our job is to trust that His plans for us are good, and if we make Him our Lord and Savior, He has a home for us in heaven someday.

Local service

12/25/2024

Born to Be Our “Saver”

“Grandpa, look at this map book I found,” said Casey.

"That’s my old atlas,” he answered. He knew that Casey’s mom was teaching her about geography in homeschool. “I used that atlas to teach your mom about places of the world.”

“Will you show me where you were born?” Casey asked.

He turned some pages and said, “See that green star? I put that on the town where I was born in Iowa. This other star is where Grandma was born.”

Then he turned to a page that showed the whole United States. There was a star on Iowa and a star on New Mexico.

“Look, here’s New Mexico where we live,” said Casey.

She traced a line between the two states, “Grandpa, you started in Iowa, and now you and Grandma live in New Mexico, right across the street!”

“Yes. we moved a thousand miles to be close to the people we love most..”

The next day, Grandpa showed Casey another map with green stars on it.. “My parents were born here, in the country of Austria.”

“Austria? Kangaroos live there,” Casey said.

“No, honey, kangaroos live in Australia.”

Each day, Grandpa and Casey explored a different map. Then one day, Casey found a map with a large gold star on it.

Grandpa touched the star and said, “I know someone who was born here, and so do you.”

“Is it Uncle Gilbert? Mom said he lives far away.”

“No. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. I put a special star on it, like the star that shone there when he was born. After Jesus was born, what happened to Him?” Grandpa asked.

“He grew up and He was the only person who never sinned. But we do sin, so we need a saver.”

“Savior,” corrected Grandpa. “Then what happened?”

“He died on the cross but He rose again and lives in us,” said Casey.

“That’s right. Grandma and I moved a long way to live close to you, but Jesus came all the way from heaven to live in us. Do you think He lives in everyone?”

Casey paused, then said, “He wants to, but we have to invite Him in to be our saver.”

“Savior,” said Grandpa, with a wink. “That’s right.”