They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To

"My servant Caleb... he has a different spirit in him and has followed me fully... " Num. 14:24; Joshua 14:6-10

A few days ago, I had the privilege of working on getting our garden ready to plant with my two boys, Joshua (5) and Stephen (3). I did the best I could to pump them up and psyche them up about “working” outside with dad. As we rode together to Lowes we sang together some of their favorite songs… I’ll Fly Away, Sanctuary, and one of their all-time favorites, Jingle Bells—Shotgun Shells—Granny Had a Gun, She went out to the hunting club, and boy she had some fun!

It was loud and it was great!! While on the way to Lowes I also went over our game plan. I told them what we would be doing in the yard and what we would need to get to finish the job. They got excited about getting dirt (compost). What little boy doesn’t get excited about dirt? But, they really did not connect with the whole “work” thing until I got them a pair of “work gloves” and boy did they get pumped and psyched. Stephen tore the tags off his gloves before I could get to the cashier to pay for them. After purchasing those gloves, the boys couldn’t wait to get home to go to “work.”

I was so encouraged to see them fill their Tonka dump trumps with compost and drive them down the rows in the garden to unload and come back for more. “Working” with dad in the garden was so popular that the girls and mommy wanted to get in on the action as soon as they got home from the grocery store. I’m glad they did because we were “working” together as a family and got a lot more accomplished. By the end of the day we put out 30 bags of compost, installed a fence around the garden, and covered the isles in-between the rows with a paper barrier and hay to keep the weeds down. I just wished I would have bought four more pairs of gloves. The girls wanted to wear the boy’s gloves so bad. Those gloves did something for our boys and girls as we worked together in the yard for most of the day.

It has been said, "They don't make them like they used to." But I say, "They ought to!!" I honestly believe that the days that you and I are living in and the days that our children will live in will require men and women that are of a different spirit. It will be a day in which only the Godly man and Godly woman will be able to navigate. As Caleb, the generation of children today will face days where they must be faithfully fit, emotionally energized, and spiritually sound.

The other day I was reminded of a statement that was made by Wilson Green, a family revivalist for Life Action Ministries, during a Revival Summit at our church in February 2009. The statement that Wilson made was so powerful and penetrating that I wanted to pass along… “To be successful at work and to fail at home is to fail completely.” Let that sink in for a moment. 

Now that the Lord has our attention, for you and I to raise boys and girls of a different spirit such as the one Caleb had, many of our children will need to trade in their Nintendo DS, iPod, computer, sport, etc… for a pair of work gloves. And perhaps as parents, we might need to make a few trades for a pair of gloves as well so that we can go to work and raise a generation of children like they used to... because we need to.

Keith