Meet the Tater Family!

Today's little blog comes compliments of my late father, Bill Jack. This is an object lesson he used often with his children and Sunday School class. I hadn't thought of it in years until I received an e-mail the other night and phone call.

It seems after reading one of my blogs about Dad's obedience to God in throwing away a book of debts from folks he knew, debts that caused him to lose his business eventually, someone published that blog in our small-town newspaper. Eventually, that article reached California and a few other states where people figured out the story about forgiveness of debts was a story about Dad, even though I never used his name.

As a result, a man I never met, who was the son of my father's high school friend, called to tell me how my father demonstrated Christianity to him as a young man numerous times. He sobbed as he recalled the acts of kindness my dad did during his lifetime.

It was a precious hour for me bringing back many memories of my father.

Hence the Tater Family.

Dad would announce to his audience that he brought a family to meet them, to illustrate God's instructions for us today in the Bible. This family was large and had several members.

Of course, we all looked around the audience and could find no strangers among us. Looking back at Dad, we watched as he picked up a very large brown, paper sack he had been hiding.

He slowly pulled out a large potato. In it he stuck a little index card on a paper clip with the name, "HEZI." Say hello to HEZITATER the first girl member of the TATER FAMILY.

Dad would then proceed to tell us all about characters in the Bible and in our own lives who "hesitate and are lost."

After establishing we were in for a fun hour of puns, we would try to guess Dad's next member of the family. They each came out of the bag, stuck with a paperclip and index card naming them, each with a little vignette to illustrate a Bible point: COMMEN, AGGIE, IRA...

Finally, when it looked as though this dysfunctional family could get no worse, the one redeeming member of the family arrived, FACILI TATER!

Dad asked us to share what this member would do or has done in our lives to make our lives easier. We enjoyed making a list of kind acts others have done to help us along the way.

Of course, Dad supplied the greatest facilitator of all, Jesus, who not only comforts, heals, loves, abides, but died so we might have eternal life.

So there you have it. A little object lesson passed on from thirty or more years ago. The Tater Family.

I hope you enjoyed them and even started making your own puns as a result.

Most importantly, I hope you strive today to be what my father was to the stranger who called me from another state, a true facilitator, pointing others to Jesus, helping ease their journey toward heaven.

For His Glory,
Gretchen