I know Father’s Day is behind us but sparked by our conversations and prayers about our fathers last weekend, Claire and I thought we’d share a couple of quick stories before we get to the quiz questions and quotations in this latest “Anti-Boredom” Packet.My “Dad story” for today concerns a really nifty lesson he taught me – a lesson that has been an extremely helpful one my whole life. I still lived at home when this happened; in fact, I had just started learning how to shave. And one day Dad, while walking through the hall, looked in the bathroom and saw me with a face full of shaving cream. And I mean full! He stopped, smiled, and said, “For a second there I thought Santa Claus was in my bathroom!” He then proceeded to explain that I didn’t need as much lather on my face as I had piled on. “But Dad, this is exactly how guys look in the shaving cream ads on TV and in the magazines.” He chuckled and patiently explained, “Son, they do that to make you think you need that much even though you really don’t. You see, the company wants you to use more than you need so that you’ll buy more than you need. And so their profits go up.”
Wow! This was a real revelation to me. It was the first time that I realized 1) how subtly persuasive ad agencies can be (not to mention even more sinister tempters) and 2) how easily duped I could be if I wasn’t careful. Like I said, it was a very valuable lesson. Thanks, Dad.
Okay, Claire here. My “Dad story” involves fudge. You see, my father was
the best fudge maker in the world – well, at least in Lincoln which was all the world I knew! On Saturday nights, while all the kids were cleaning and polishing their shoes for church the next morning, Dad made fudge. Because I had patent leather shoes, I got done quicker than the others and was able to hang out with Dad while he made this delicious treat. We couldn’t wait to get some, so he would give spoons to all 8 kids so we could clean out the pan after he had poured it out to harden. What joy! And the second blessing was getting yet more fudge later that night.
That’s just one example of how my Dad liked to make special treats for us. For instance, there was also his famous “Three in One” dish -- hamburger, elbow
macaroni, and tomato sauce. Doesn’t sound terrific now, maybe. But we were kids and it was our Dad making it special for us and so we were delighted. And the memories are still rich.
So…let’s get to your memories now with #17 in our series of activity pages.
We’re praying to see you in person soon with a “When Swing Was King” show!
Denny and Claire
https://vitalsignsministries.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/WSWK-Activity-Pack-17.pdf
