Lessons in Life from Papa’s Front Porch

View from Papa’s front porch

Papa and Grandma

View from Papa’s porch                   Papa and Grandma

West Virginia is one of the most beautiful states in the country and I would say one of the most beautiful places in the world.  I have visited and preached on 5 continents and lived on 3 continents.  But it is the people of WV that make it great.

My Papa was a great man.  He was a jack of all trades and a master of some.  He was a schoolteacher, patrolman, justice of the peace, preacher, game warden, coal miner, and he studied law and medicine.  His first cadaver caused him to quit the medical field.  He never had much money, but he had a heart of gold and a laugh that would make you laugh until you cried, even when the joke was not funny at all!  He was a Renaissance man living far out in the woods.  Can I say, FAR OUT.

I learned the most as a boy from my dad, my uncle James, and Papa.  These 3 men shaped my life.  I owe them so much.  I was a very spiritually oriented boy.  At 5 I decided I wanted to be a big fat Baptist preacher!  My pastor was a big fat Baptist preacher and I liked him.  I went from VBS to VBS as a boy.  I walked to the different churches.  At that time mom and dad really didn’t go to church.  I also stopped as a teen but was back in church by 19.  The spiritual realm always fascinated me and Papa’s ghost stories helped.   (Okay, don’t get me wrong, I was a boy–ease up Mr. Theologian.)

My Papa was my spiritual mentor from when I was a little child.  I learned so much.  I learned most of it from his front porch which overlooked a creek and endless mountains. It is like being on a second story porch.  It is here that Papa taught me some valuable lessons.  That is the purpose of this post, to share the lessons I learned and to remind the younger generation to avail yourself of the wisdom in our senior saints before they are gone from this earth.  I want to share lessons learned and two prophecies spoken to me on that porch. (My middle name is David.)

• Life is very short.  You see that branch floating down the creek?  It will bounce, go up, go down, it will find smooth going and difficult going, but one day it will stop.  Life is like that–up and down, smooth, and an ending.  The important thing is to stay in the creek.  You see the walls of the creek protect.  They are the boundaries that God has set.  To those of us who know Christ they are walls of protection.  To those who look at our lives they see them as walls of the Christian prison.  David, no matter what the ups and downs, the smooth places, and the hard places, stay in the creek.  Stay within God’s boundaries and in the end one day, like the stick, you will stop, but you will stop in the arms of Christ.
• It doesn’t matter how many friends you have, it only matters how many people you are friends to.
• I know you worry a lot about your height.  It bothers you, but you are God’s creation.  His creation.  Height is not the measure of a man but character.  As long as you can touch God from your knees, you are good.
• If you are turkey hunting and a chicken flies up, shoot it.  A chicken trying to be a turkey deserves it.  It has no business in the woods.  ( I am still working on this one!)
• Gossip is like opening a feather pillow and casting the feathers out over this porch.  You can get some of them back, but some will be in the wind until you die.
• One more and I will get to the 2 prophecies.  The only thing in life that matters is following Christ.  Keep your eyes on him and everything else will work out.  Stay in the creek, the walls are for protection not to confine.

These are two, now looking back, prophecies my Papa gave me at around 10 or 11.

1. David, one day I see you as a pastor of a very large church.  Larger than any church I have ever seen.  God fulfilled this prophecy.
2. David, The Lord has promised me that I will die in church service.  Papa did die in church.  Everyone got up to leave, but Papa had left the building.  His body was there on the pew, but his spirit had gone to be with Christ.

To DAD, PAPA, and Uncle James who taught me much.  Love you always!

Dr. James D Allen

Dr. Allen served as a seminary VP, pastor, and as a trustee on a Christian mental health Board. He has earned a BA, MA, MA Biblical Counseling, Doctor of Ministry. Dr Allen has also preached on 5 continents, lived in 3 nations, and so has a diverse Christian experience. He has a distinguished career of being a pastor, consultant, author, and educator. MY FIRST LOVE--Being a Pastor and encouraging others!