by Pastor Joel Lawler

He was eighteen years old.  He was ready to go out into the world on his own.  He had been a great kid.  He worked hard in school and made good grades.  His discipline also led him to be an accomplished musician and athlete.  He was also a leader in his church youth group. In whatever he was involved, he would push himself to succeed.

His father could not have been more proud of him.  As with anyone, he had his faults but regardless of the situation, his strong character always would lead him to do the right thing. He was truly the "model son."

He earned a full ride scholarship to college and also saved some money from his part time job.  Once he stepped out of the door, he would be making it on his own and cutting his dependence on his parents.

It was a family tradition that when one of the kids left the house their mom and dad would give them a gift.  His older sister received a large sum of money to help with her college expenses.  His older brother had received a car.

There was one thing that he wanted more than anything.  It was a 1965 mustang.  He had fallen in love the car even before he could drive. He had mustang posters on his wall and he become mesmerized when he saw one on the road.

He left less than subtle hints for his parents about what he wanted for his goodbye present.  He had even gone so far as to find one for sale.  He had test driven it and checked it over from bumper to bumper.

He left the classified add sitting around with this car circled so that his parents could not possibly miss the hint.

When it came time to pack, he left his stuff in boxes in his room.  He took the keys of the old car that he had been driving off his key ring in order to make room for his mustang keys.

It came time for "the big moment".  He walked into the living room where his parents had been waiting.  His father spoke of how proud he has of him.  Most of his dad's words went unheard due to his anticipation.

At the conclusion of his "speech," his father gave him his parting gift.  It was a

leather bound Bible with his name engraved in gold on the cover.

He was stunned to silence by the crushing disappointment.  He walked to his room, tossed the Bible in one of his boxes, loaded up his old car and headed off to college.  The disappointment had led him to not only cut financial ties with his parents but emotional ones as well.  He would hardly ever call or visit and rarely return their phone calls.

Upon graduating from college, he was going through boxes of old stuff attempting to decide what to discard and what to keep.  He came across the Bible that he received from his parents.  The pain once again welled up inside him.  He could not help but feel cheated and that his desire went completely ignored by his parents.  It felt like his parents did not even know him.  All the hard work and achievement seemed unappreciated when he took the book they had given him into his hands.

As he sat on the edge of his bed, the Bible slipped from his hands and with a thud hit the floor.  It fell open.  Inside was tucked an envelope.  In the envelope was the classified ad for the car with a check from his parents for the price of his car.