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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for September 16, 2010
“A Good Dad is Like a Center of Gravity”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
The cutest little girl is sitting in the back seat of the car.
Her mother is speeding down the highway when suddenly police lights flash in her mirror.
The officer asks for the mom’s papers, and while she is fishing them out, he says to the girl, “Hello! Mummy in a bit of a hurry, was she?”
The little girl whispers, “That’s not my mommy.” Then she holds up her notebook on which she has printed one word in large capital letters: HELP.
The officer looks at her cherubic face for confirmation, and while holding the sign she mouths the words, “Help me.”
He finally realizes the gravity of the situation and shouts at the driver, “Step out of the car, madam! Step out of the vehicle…now!”
The camera cuts back to the little girl who now has a smug look on her face, and the video ends with these words flashed up on the screen, “Born to create drama.”
That’s a short video that’s making the rounds on the internet. My daughter-in-law sent it to me with the subject line, “Grounded for Life!”
She and my son are expecting our first grandchild in March, and she wrote in the e-mail, “Hopefully my baby will never do this to me.”
Of course that video is a bit far fetched, but when it said “born to create drama,” wow, isn’t that what it seems like sometimes? These little buggers come along and next thing you know some two-foot-tall person is ruling the roost.
After watching the video I thought, “My kids never would have done something like that.” Why not? Because I wouldn’t have put up with it!
I sat with my oldest daughter in church last night and she also had received the video so I asked her, “Would you kids have ever done anything like that?”
“No!”
“Why not?”
She paused for a second, got this mischievous gleam in her eye and said, “Because you would have beat us!”
Of course I never “beat” my children, but they knew there were definitive lines that they crossed at their peril. These lines were established at an early age, and even though we didn’t have a rule for every single situation, they had a good idea of what would bring the law down on them.
Have you ever seen kids that acted like brats? All kids act like brats sometimes, but some kids push the envelope and finally just swirl out of control.
When I see kids like that I have one question. Where’s the father?
Not that Mom can’t take care of things, but right now I’m talking about fathers.
A good father is like a center of gravity. His strength, wisdom, rules, love, discipline and guiding hand keep the kids from swirling out of orbit.
First of all, his love keeps them in check because you don’t want to disappoint someone who loves you. A good father builds strong, loving relationships with his children. He talks to them and listens to them and spends time with them.
A good father injects wisdom into his children, which means he must be growing in wisdom himself. A good father is maturing, even as his children mature.
A good father is strong. That doesn’t mean he’s a body builder, but that he has a strong constitution. He has self control and dignity. He’s not just one of the kids, and they know it. He is Dad.
A good father establishes rules; not things he makes up off the top of his head and changes tomorrow, but rules that are well thought out and are the same the next day and the next year. A good dad thinks before he speaks, then does exactly what he says.
A good father disciplines his children. Yes, that involves punishment when they break the rules, and it involves rewards for good behavior. He encourages them to be the best they can be and works with them to make it happen.
And a good father has a strong, guiding hand which points and says, “This is the way, walk ye in it.”
Yes, moms are super important, too; of course they are. But lately it seems like the importance of dads is underplayed by some, so let me state one more time the effect I think a father should have on his family.
A good dad is like a center of gravity. His strength, wisdom, rules, love, guiding hand and discipline keep the kids from swirling out of orbit.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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