It Can Be Fixed 10/26/2023

 Good Morning,

The day began early for me and I am off to work in a few minutes. I just poured a hot cup of Door County Autumn Spice Coffee and it is time to write. 

Proverbs 14:23 In all toil there is profit, but mere talk only leads to poverty.

Photo Credit Walmart

Way back when I was about twelve years old I caught our dad in a spoof on my brother. My brother Jim was a two year old toddler and our dad had him convinced that he could fix anything. Jim could be amused by playing with a balloon. He would also engage family members to play with him. At twelve I was not all that approachable by a two year old, but I did my share of swatting a balloon in the air until I had plenty of the toddler and then sent Jim off to our sister. Most people now shun the idea of balloons and toddlers as a swallowing risk. But then we did not ride our bikes while wearing a helmet. Things were different back then.  

Back to the balloons. Inevitably sooner or later the rambunctious toddler would break his balloon. I shed no tears about that happening. Jim would cry and look for Dad and show him his broken balloon. If Dad was working, Jim's balloon was set on the kitchen table for Dad to fix. Now broken balloons are very seldom repairable. Yet Dad would promise to "look at it later". Then a balloon of the same color would be filled with "hot air" and dispatched for the toddler. I found out how that balloon repair actually happened. Dad would always purchase  a bag of balloons for the little urchin and when one broke Dad would just blow up a new one and then tell "shorty" he fixed his balloon. I would roll my eyes and knew better than to spoil the scam Dad had on the youngest one. 

This continued through our lives. Dad was always there to listen and many times I would seek him out as a sounding board in times of troubles. He never told me that things could not be fixed. He did say that he wasn't sure how they could be fixed, but where you placed your sincere effort and worked hard you could weather the storms of your life. 

Our mother was very ill when I was a little boy and she had her first open heart surgery when I was in first grade. The medical bills were not covered by insurance, because that type of surgery was still classified as experimental. After all was said and done, Dad was handed a bill that was almost three times the value of a nice home. He was advised to file bankruptcy and get out of the many bills that came in every month. Dad said to our mom one day as she was crying about the bills. "This can be fixed if we just pull together as a family and I work an extra job or two." Things changed throughout the upcoming years and when I was Junior in high school the medical bills were finally paid. No bankruptcy!

As a family we celebrated with dinner at a place called Ponderosa and our dad was as proud as could be of being out from under the bills. Dad couldn't fool me any longer. He did not have any balloon tricks up his sleeve. He did however have a praying wife, and the ability as well as drive to work hard and take responsibility for our debt. 

I believe in prayer and how God blessed our family. But Mom had the biggest balloon trick. I recall her telling my sister and me to pray for our dad so he could continue the pace he was on to keep us moving forward. And pray we did. And God answered. 

Things can be fixed and sometimes it is with a fresh start and lots of positive prayer and major effort.

Marty