2025

God has made men and women delightfully different. The writer of Proverbs says the way of a man with a maiden is among those things too wonderful and beyond his understanding. 

The dam that collected the water that drained from the marsh was the perfect place for fourth grade boys to go fishing for frogs. These frogs were African mud frogs and they were dumb. They would eat the bait offered to them over and over again never learning from their mistakes. This made for lots of fun for the boys and a good lesson we can learn about life.

When an eclipse occurred at Rethy Academy, Grandpa Paul’s teacher Mr. Miller used the opportunity to teach his class about it. He explained that God has put everything in order and keeps it working. If we are to make any worthwhile effort in stewarding creation, we must first humble ourselves before our Creator.

It is prideful to hide our brokenness, especially when God has offered us life through Jesus. Why should we refuse God’s offer? We are the ones who are broken and need to be healed. Instead of refusing, we can surrender to God, die to self, and accept Jesus. He is able to heal us and he is the only way to true life. 

One way to become popular is to tell intriguing stories. The more fantastical they seem the more others might like us. But this is managing our own image rather than living in the truth as the images of God we already are.

We often find excuses not to love one another. Love takes time and energy, and we often think it’s easier to use the excuses we find to do our own thing. That can lead to the very person who needs our tender-hearted care not getting it. 

When someone has the world’s goods sometimes people are their friend because of what they have, not because they are friendly. When living at the boarding school, packages from home were a rare and special treat.

Perhaps we can recall, in our lives, people who humbly serve others in a way that truly honors God. When Jesus’ disciples wanted to be the greatest and receive honor for themselves, he explained to them “whoever would be first among you, must be your servant” because the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and give his life. 

God puts things in front of us right where we are. While Grandpa Paul was too small to go to boarding school, he was not too small to play with chameleons or to come to Jesus. We are encouraged to come to Jesus like little children – joyfully enjoying God’s good world right where he has placed us. 

This special episode comes from Chapter One of Grandpa Still Remembers titled Too Small.