Author Archives: pastorjeremyhelmuth

The Old Man and his Horse

As we are turning the page from 2015 to 2016, I would like to share with you one of my favorite stories. This legend has a wonderful lesson about patient wisdom and not stating too quickly whether something is a curse or a blessing. Enjoy…

horse

Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse. Even the king coveted his treasure. People offered fabulous prices for this horse, but the old man always refused. One morning he found that the horse was not in the stable. All the village came out to see him. “You old fool,” they scoffed. “We told you that someone would steal your horse. You could have sold him before he was stolen, but you refused, and now you are left with nothing.” The old man responded, “Don’t speak too quickly. Say only that the horse is not in the stable. That is all we know. The rest is judgment.” The people of the village laughed and thought he was crazy.

But after fifteen days, the horse returned. He hadn’t been stolen, but had run into the forest and returned with a dozen wild horses. Once again, the people gathered at the man’s house and said, “You were right and we were wrong. This was not a curse but a blessing.” But the old man responded, “Don’t speak too quickly. Say only that a dozen horses returned with him. That is all we know. The rest is judgment. If you read only one page of a book, then how can you judge the entire book?”

Maybe the old man is right, they thought to themselves, but deep down they believed he was blessed because he had a son who could now train those wild horses easily and then sell them for a nice profit. The old man had his only son train those horses, but after a few days, he fell from one of the horses and broke both of his legs. Once again the village gathered and said, “This was a curse. Your son has broken his legs and you have no one to help you.” The old man responded, “Don’t speak too quickly. Say only that my son broke his legs. That is all we know. The rest is judgment. If you read only one page of a book, then how can you judge the entire book?”

It so happened that a few weeks later the old man’s country engaged in war against a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded because of his legs. Once again, the people gathered around him and said, “You were right. Your son’s accident was a blessing. Our sons are going to die, but you still have yours.” The old man said this: “No one really knows if it is a blessing or a curse. No one is wise enough to know. Only God knows.”

As something happens to you this new year, don’t judge the event too quickly. Be patient. Be wise in how you respond. We do not know how God is working out His purpose in our life.

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).

The Most Important 5 Minutes of Your Child’s Day

char & anna

I have always found it fascinating that there are certain comments you hear from individuals that seem to implant within your mind. No matter how many other events or sayings are forgotten, there are triggers in your life which bring these thoughts to mind from time to time. One of these thoughts date back to over a decade ago. I was surrounded by thousands of other people in one of the largest churches in America, listening to a famous pastor of a mega-church speak about order in a man’s life. I don’t remember anything else from his forty-five minute talk except this phrase:

“When your children are young, if you don’t spend at least four nights a week putting your children to bed, you will negatively affect who they will become as an adult.”

Maybe this guy didn’t even realize he said this. Maybe it was a passing thought to fill his speaking time, but it resonated with me. My first thought was, “Where did he get his research? How did he come up with such a random number like four nights?” And then he qualified his statement by confessing to each of us how much he would travel when his children were young and he was convicted to stop that kind of schedule because he could see that it was having a detrimental effect on his young family.

This phrase has always stuck with me. For those of you who have to travel for a living, this is not written to bring guilt into your life. Certain jobs require an absence from the family at undesired times, like at bedtime. But for those of us who can be around at bedtime, and we choose to do something else, then we should reconsider just how precious this time is to young children.

As I started researching how important the last few minutes were in a child’s day, I was overwhelmed by the convincing evidence. Expert after expert stated how important the moment before bedtime was for a child. And what surprised me the most was the fact that the importance of “tucking your kid into bed” didn’t stop when they became a teenager. Laying down beside your teen in the dark in an unthreatening environment are the only times that some adolescents will share about their day and some of the things that are going on in their life.

Some of you are thinking right now, “I hate bedtime! My kid never wants to go to sleep. She fights it every night. You think it is the best time of the day, well I think it is the worst!” We had this issue with our third child. Whenever it was time to go get her nighty on and brush her teeth, she would start crying and would often need discipline in order to obey. There was one thing that would calm her down: singing to her. Let’s just say that I have been singing to her for almost two years now. She often can’t go to bed unless I sing to her for a few minutes. I know, I have created a little monster. But I am counting on the fact that she will someday get too old to want daddy to rock her and sing to her and when that time is over, that season of my life will be finished. And I will miss that.

chark

During the last two years, I have sung many different kinds of songs to her. But recently, within the last two weeks, I have discovered a song that seems to really soften her spirit. It is a simple song that I have always liked. I learned it when I was in elementary school at a church musical. It is called the “Cares Chorus.” Here are the words:

I cast all my cares upon You

I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet

And any time I don’t know what to do

I will cast all my cares upon You

The first time I started singing this song to my daughter, she started kissing me softly all over my face. The song was speaking to her little heart, and she was demonstrating this to me. Every night for the last couple weeks I have sung other songs and she quietly lays in my arms, but the moment I start singing that song, she reaches up and starts to kiss me in such a precious manner. What is so special about this song? Four lines. How could there be that much power in such a short song? And then it hit me: this song is what our prayer should be to God every night. She doesn’t even realize why this song is touching her soul, but I think I do. One of the most powerful things we can do as humans is give our cares of the day over to God and humbly sleep the rest He has planned for us.

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I now look forward to singing to her, especially this song, as it seems to have a special soothing power that brings rest to her soul. I will cherish these memories for the rest of my life. After I tuck her into bed, I go into another daughter’s bedroom and I hug her and kiss her goodnight and I lay by her and we talk for a few seconds. She is still young and her personality doesn’t demand as much attention as some of the other ones. After I tuck this one into bed, I move on to our oldest. Almost every night she asks me to lay beside her so we can talk. It doesn’t last long, usually only a couple minutes, but in those moments, we connect in a way that God intended for a father and daughter to interact. She shares some things that she wouldn’t normally share in the light of the day when everyone is around and there is constant chaos. I have grown to treasure these interactions with my young ladies. For one day they will say good-bye and I will walk into their rooms and sing a song and realize just how good those days were.

Never underestimate how valuable those last few moments of the day are for your child. You have the ability to soothe their soul, and in this stressful world of unrelenting chaos, it can become the most important five minutes of their day.