It’s the start of a new school year, and I salute (and pray for!) our teachers and administrators who are charged with the unimaginable responsibility of taking the urchins they are given and eventually turning them into responsible citizens who will be the leaders of the future.  And I think of our late son-in-law Mike who died way too young last December.

Mike was not only a terrific son-in-law whom we dubbed “our angel,” but he was also a great teacher and coach before becoming a respected high school administrator and mentor of many, young and old. He was also a wonderful husband and one of the best fathers I have ever known.

A lot of dads are actively involved in their kids’ lives, but Mike was the only one I knew of who changed that first nasty poopy diaper in the hospital and didn’t even gag at all. He and our daughter Heather
eventually had four children, and he kept on changing diapers, supervising  the kids’ baths and homework, working and playing alongside them, showing them how to be the outstanding people God intended them to be.

Heather recently posted a photo of their youngest, a girl after three boys. Braelin had just won a blue ribbon in a horse event and was grinning from ear to ear. For some reason I thought about when she was just a baby and I was visiting for a few days. She needed a clean diaper and I figured I could handle that job. I didn’t reckon with little Braelin’s feistiness. She squirmed, cried and kicked and had just about bested her ol’ Nanny.

Mike heard the ruckus and came in to lend a hand. He tried to make me feel better by telling me she resisted being changed by anyone, and I saw that even he was having a little bit of trouble. What he said to her has stuck with me all these years: “Braelin, I can make you be still. I don’t want to have to use force, but I can make you be still.” I don’t know if it was the authority in his voice, or if she was just worn out from wrestling, but she settled down and let him change her!

Isn’t that like our Heavenly Father? He could make us do whatever He wants us to do; He has the power and the strength. But He chooses not to use the force of His will. He wants us to obey Him out of love and respect for His authority over us. He may stand by, watching us kick and scream until we are too tired to fight Him anymore. Then when we submit to Him in obedience, He will work with us to bring about the change we have fought against, but so desperately need.

Mike, by your example you taught your children well – and your mother-in-law too.