I won’t forget my dad used to say “God doesn’t have a complaint department!”

While we can certainly come to God with anything, his point was we’re instructed in the Bible to “do everything without complaining or arguing.” Another scripture says that whatever is “true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy”, are the things we should think about.

That’s easier said than done, but what a great thing to strive for.

My dad had a million of ’em. I won’t forget the pithy sayings that somehow seemed original when he said them, like “I’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer” or “You need to know in your knower.” And he always got a laugh when he called his audience “a lovely bunch of coconuts.” I never understood it but I laughed too.

Dad went to heaven in January, joining my Mom who passed on two and a half years ago. I am grateful I had Jesus-loving parents, and grateful that I have hours and hours of audio and video recordings of my father, who was a pastor and Bible teacher, teaching and encouraging me for the rest of my life.

And I’m grateful that dad taught me to be grateful.

I won’t forget the story he loved telling about his friend Earl. Earl had a lot of siblings and their dinner table was huge. If you wanted the biscuits that were out of reach at the other end of the table, you were taught to say “thank you for the biscuits.” Be grateful, and here come the biscuits. Asking for them outright was a no-no.

What a great lesson.