What Drives You?
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” James 4:10 KJV
“Oh, why do I have to go pick him up? Why does he have to go to church and do that anyway?” were the questions I asked my mom about her request to go pick up my younger brother at puppet practice that he attended each week at church.
When you first learn to drive it is usually quite stressful for those who have to teach you, which is usually one or both of your parents. One of the biggest challenges is getting that teenager to listen, which is usually not one of their strongest gifts at that time in their life. For some reason, it’s hard to get them to understand this 2-ton vehicle can be a little tricky at times.
The excitement of learning to drive sometimes overrides the constant rules and instructions that are being tossed their way. Sometimes the looks of panic and shouting that come from the passenger’s side almost get written off as “worrying over nothing.”
The giggles and snide remarks coming from the back seat, from siblings, doesn’t help matters either. It’s almost like their laughter and comments have a hint of: “you tell them Momma (or Papa). You let them have it.” An independent streak arises inside those teenage “driverees” like, “I’ll show them I know what I’m doing. I don’t need any of your instructions or remarks.”
Somehow, generation after generation, we survive all this. And what is the reward for all this torture we put our parents through? When we finally do learn to drive and drive well enough to do it on our own, we sometimes get asked to do little tasks, like go pick up our little brother at church. The thankfulness for our parent’s patience seems to fade like it was more of a blessing we bestowed on them than taking years off their life.
I was raised by strong Christian parents. I’m not sure I really appreciated it then, but now I am so thankful that they raised me that way. Sometimes the hard decisions of instilling Christian values into our children aren’t the most pleasant tasks. Not only do parents get to be reminded, over and over again, that “everyone else’s parents” let them do things, but those parents also get to see that many other parents do let their children do things that don’t reflect Christian values.
Still, my parents raised us three kids differently and today I am so grateful they did. Both my parents were very active in the church. My Dad was more of a spotlight person and my mom was more of a behind-the-scenes person. That balance taught me the great importance of both. A spotlight serves no purpose if the behind-the-scenes stuff isn’t completed. Hopefully I’ve turned out to be a good compliment of both.
My father taught Sunday School classes and was sometimes my teacher. He was very good at explaining a complex topic in a simple form and he usually did it in a parable type fashion. My Mom was better at writing it down and explaining it. She even wrote several children’s Christmas plays which were performed by our church. Again, I hope I turned out to be a good compliment of both.
President Truman decided to hold one of those White House luncheons. Among the invited guests was Dwight Eisenhower. Seated with Eisenhower, at the main table, was an elderly lady. Frances Preston was simply identified as “Mrs. Thomas Preston” on the place card which rested in front of her plate.
To get the conversation going with her, Eisenhower asked Mrs. Preston if this was her first-time visiting Washington. The elderly woman replied, “No, I actually lived here once. Then I had to move back home, but I came back and lived here again.” That was probably one of the most interesting parts of the conversation.
It was a relatively normal conversation until she answered Eisenhower’s next question on where it was in Washington that she lived. Eisenhower, and all the guests seated at the table, were surprised as were probably everyone else within ear shot.
Frances was born Frances Clara Folsom in the middle of the Civil War. Her parents were Emma and Oscar Folsom. She was the oldest of two children, but her sister, Nellie, died in infancy. Her father was friends with a guy named Stephen, or Big Steve as his good friends would call him.
Big Steve was very fond of Frances. When she was just an infant, and he was twenty-seven-years old, he purchased a baby carriage for her. As she grew up, Big Steve loved doting on her and became affectionately known as Uncle Steve to her.
When Frances was just eleven years old, her father was killed in a carriage accident. He left no will, and Big Steve was made the administrator of his estate and he became the “unofficial” guardian of Frances. Frances and her mother would leave Buffalo, New York, where they were living, for Medina, New York. Uncle Steve would stay in Buffalo.
The mother and daughter would return to Buffalo and when they did, Big Steve was now the Mayor of Buffalo. He would help Frances get into Wells College where she became quite popular. Uncle Steve would visit her often while she was there. She was interested in photography and science and would graduate from Wells College.
Frances would receive three marriage proposals while she was at Wells College. Two of those proposals resulted in engagements, but neither of those two ever panned out. Shortly after Frances graduated from Wells, Uncle Steve would propose to her, and she would accept. He was forty-nine-years old, and she was twenty-one-years old.
There once was a shepherd. He was his father’s seventh son, so he was probably handed this shepherd job because none of his other older brothers wanted it. He was a cocky little boy, but I imagine his older brothers often told him, “Get away from me, pipsqueak.”
Well, the king was rallying his countrymen because there was a neighboring country they were at war with. Three of the little shepherd’s brothers went off to that war. The little shepherd wanted to go too, but his dad needed him to watch the sheep. Besides, he had already sent three of his sons to the war front.
These Biblical times are a little bit different than our times. One just needs to look at what the shepherd’s boy’s father, Jesse, told him to do next. His father asked him to go back and forth to the warfront and take his brothers some food and to check up on them. Can you imagine going up to General Eisenhower, from the story above, and telling him that you were just here to give your brothers a home cooked meal and to check up on them? I highly doubt you would get too far with that request.
When the little shepherd boy got there, I imagine he probably got a peek of the king, King Saul. Saul was an impressive man. Early on the Bible tells us that he was taller than just about everyone and quite handsome. Saul was also quite victorious in battle, or at least he was successful when he would listen and wait for God to give him directions. So, the little shepherd probably thought of Saul as a hero.
The little shepherd was probably filled with disappointment when he arrived at camp one day. Everyone, including King Saul, was scared to death of this man on the other side that was constantly taunting them. Where was this king who had no fear because he relied on God for his victory? Why were all these soldiers letting this man say all the bad things about them and their God?
“I will fight the beast,” the little shepherd gallantly stated. “No one has the right to say those things about our God, our country, or even us,” he continued. Somehow, he was able to talk all of them into letting him go out and fight this beast. Maybe they thought they had nothing to lose by doing this.
Of course, this is the story of David and his battle with the giant Goliath. The impressive Goliath probably would tower over the rather tall Saul. Here comes, basically, a little boy out to the battlefield. You can see why Goliath might have been insulted that this was the best King Saul had to offer.
We know how the story ends. David kills Goliath and becomes a national hero. Saul is proud of his new little soldier, until David starts to get a little more popular than King Saul. At least, that’s what King Saul thought.
Saul plots to kill David. He decides to send David into a hopeless battle. He hopes that will do his dirty work for him. That doesn’t work and even seems to backfire. David becomes even more popular. Saul then decides he just wants to kill David and get the whole thing over with. David would be forever honored to be Saul’s servant and he would be forever loyal to Saul.
In the Baptist faith, which we were when I grew up, it is believed that one needs to make a public profession of faith when one realizes Jesus is a much-needed part of one’s life, or you allowed Jesus to come into your heart as they called it. They also believed that someone has to be old enough to understand what that commitment really means.
Well, when the big time came for me to make that decision, my dad and mom prepped me with questions the pastor might ask after I came forward. The big service came when I decided to go forward. Then I started to get cold feet. For me, it was not a decision to be taken lightly. Besides, getting up and walking down that aisle, with all those people looking at me, made me very nervous.
I didn’t want to disappoint my parents, but I decided to talk to my dad about the possibility of delaying this event. Sometimes there are things that are said to you when you are younger that you just don’t forget. Maybe you don’t remember the exact words, but you definitely remember the conversation. This is one of those occasions.
Basically, my father told me that if I was not ready to go forward, I shouldn’t go forward. He went on to tell me that when the right time came, God would let me know. There was no disappointment in his voice. It was one of those rare, valuable moments where I could see how much my dad really wanted what was best for me and he expressed it. He knew it was God’s job, and not his, to make me comfortable with a relationship with Him.
As I sat at the end of that service, the one I was planning to go forward but was now leaning more toward waiting, the choir was singing at the end of the service. My heart started pounding so hard and the lyrics touched my soul. It was almost like God Himself pushed me into the aisle and I walked down to the pastor. It’s not like my nerves went away. It was more like someone pushing me to do what I myself wasn’t brave enough to do.
It was probably a few years later when my mom asked me to go pick up my brother at church. The thoughts were long forgotten of that day I walked down that aisle. I definitely couldn’t remember the gray hairs I gave her when she was one of those who taught me to drive. My thoughts weren’t on how I could be more like Jesus or what would Jesus do. It seems they were more focused on the inconvenience than doing what I could do to help, even if it was just a behind-the-scenes effort.
There’s a strange thing about my brother’s puppet story, though. Eventually, I would get involved with our church’s puppet group, the Goppets. I would go on to lead that group and several other puppet groups at different churches. The really cool thing about puppets is that they have a great way of entertaining young children, while disguising a message that their parents, or older siblings, walk away touched, too. I may have never developed my interest in puppets had it not been for the fact I was asked to go pick my brother up at puppet practice.
Shortly after Stephen Grover Cleveland, or if you’d rather call him Big Steve or Uncle Steve, entered the White House as a bachelor President, he proposed to Frances Folsom. They were married on June 2, 1886, in the Blue Room in the White House.
Frances Cleveland was a very popular First Lady. While she was First Lady, she set fashion and hairstyle trends. Her social events at the White House were the most successful in history. Her immense popularity even helped raise people’s opinion of President Cleveland. A 1982 poll placed her 13th (of 42 First Ladies) for her performance.
So far, Cleveland is the only President to be married in the White House. John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson both remarried while they were President, but neither of those married in the White House. At twenty-two-years of age, Frances Cleveland is the youngest spouse to serve as First Lady.
The Clevelands, so far, are the only First Couple to serve two nonconsecutive terms. There is a rumor that Frances told the White House staff to keep the White House ready for them after Grover lost to Benjamin Harrison, because they would be back. True to her prophetic form, four years later they returned to the White House after Cleveland defeated Harrison in the election of 1892.
Between the two terms they had their first child, Ruth Cleveland. She would only live to be twelve years old. She died shortly after contracting diphtheria. Strangely, thirty years after her death, Ruth became entangled in a little controversy of her own.
Babe Ruth was in the middle of his 54-home run season, and he was becoming very popular. The Curtiss Candy Company decided to change the name of their Kandy Kake to the Baby Ruth bar. When it was discovered that they might have to pay royalties to Babe Ruth for using his name, the Curtiss Candy Company said they named the bar for Ruth Cleveland and not Babe Ruth.
Frances would also serve on the board of directors for Wells College, the college she graduated from. She would hold that position for over fifty years. Wells even built Cleveland Hall in her honor. Originally it served as a library, but later it was used for classes in foreign languages and women’s studies. It also has a food bank to help those in need.
Grover Cleveland died on June 24, 1908, and Frances remarried on February 10, 1913. She married Thomas J. Preston, Jr. who was a professor of archeology at Wells College. President Taft would invite them both to the White House to celebrate their engagement. Frances was the first First Lady to remarry.
Thirty some years later, President Truman would invite Frances back to the White House. It was at this luncheon that she was seated at the same table as Dwight Eisenhower. Apparently, Eisenhower had no idea who she was when he asked her if she had ever been to Washington before. Imagine his surprise when she told him that she had resided at the White House, not once, but twice before.
Rather than focus on his kingdom, Saul decides to waste time tracking down David to kill him. All his efforts fail. Saul was eventually killed in battle with Goliath’s Philistines. David becomes the new king.
This all makes for a great story and the Bible even goes on to say that David was a man after God’s own heart. You would think, with a history like that, and credentials like that, you would have someone who is well controlled in his emotions, but David comes to surprise us.
David sees a young woman, Bathsheba, bathing on her rooftop. Her husband, Uriah, is off to one of the wars while David is king. David lusts for Bathsheba and decides he must have her. She becomes pregnant from one of their encounters.
Now, it wouldn’t look good for a king to have relationships with one of his soldier’s wives, especially one as loyal as Uriah was, who is actually off fighting in one of the king’s wars. David decides he needs to devise a plan. “Oh, I know,” thought David, “I will bring Uriah home from the front. He will be so happy to see his wife and spend a romantic evening with her. Then it will look like the child is his.” Perfect plan, or so David thought.
The problem was, Uriah was so loyal to David and his fellow soldiers that he refused to go spend any special time with his wife. In fact, he laid in the courtyard outside David’s palace rather than go home and be with his wife. So much for David’s perfect plan.
Then David came up with another plan. He would send Uriah into a difficult battle and then tell his commander to pull back the troops, except Uriah. This would cause Uriah’s death. Now David could pretend to be the hero and take Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, as is own wife.
Where could someone come up with an idea like that? It sounds to me just like the idea Saul first came up with to have David killed. For all the Psalms David wrote about: “Woe is me, my enemies are trying to kill me. I don’t deserve it,” here he is doing the same thing to Uriah.
Who does stuff like this? How about the teenager who forgets how much he wanted to drive and complains when a parent asked him to go pick up a brother?
Just like the popular Frances Folsom Cleveland Preston was not remembered, our thoughts fade to the here and now. For all Frances’ popularity and accomplishments, one of the nation’s leading generals, at the time, didn’t even know who she was. No wonder Eisenhower and everyone within earshot was shocked when Frances told them that it was in that same White House she lived while they were in Washington. But isn’t it just like us when we are called to be Jesus’ example, yet we forget that we invited Him into our hearts to do just that.
God often gives us golden opportunities to “remember” all He has done for us. We choose to only look at how things affect us now. If we have something to gain, we are much more likely to be joyful in doing it. What we fail to understand is that God has paved our paths with smooth asphalt that trains us to serve Him. Instead, we chose to get on the bumpy gravel road of self service.
We need to be the behind-the-scenes person and let God be the spotlight person. Instead of being the general at the table that feels he needs to start conversation, we need to be the humble guest who looks at the other guest equally, if not more, important. We need to remember the bad things that happen to us are only lessons we should never repeat with others, like a little shepherd boy we’ve read about. Picking up a younger brother, or any other chore for that matter, should fill us with a feeling that just may be what God put us in that moment for.
Prayer: Dear Mighty Father, Forgive me for the times You have sent me to do a task and all I did was complain about how inconvenient it was for me. Help me to look at inconveniences, or things I get nothing out of, as opportunities to serve you. Let there be less “me” and more helping others in my life. Help me to be better at serving You. Amen.
