Date: 12/4/2007
<br>Author: Devin Pickard
<br>Title: December 5, 2007
<br><br>I won’t ever forget it.  It was the must have gift of the season.....a Coleco Head to Head electronic baseball game.  I had made my request for said game known to mom and dad on numerous occasions during the weeks leading up to the Christmas of 1982.  Our family was like most.  Tommy and Debbie Pickard both worked long and hard to provide their boys with every need they had and most every want.  Still, I felt like the Coleco game was a pretty tall order for my folks.  It was quite expensive for the time and I almost felt guilty asking for it knowing how many overtime hours dad would have to work at the button plant to afford it.  But, the guilt was not so overwhelming that I marked the game off my wish list....that’s why they call it a wish list.  So, guess what......bright and early Christmas morning, there it was under the tree.  As usual, mom and dad had come through....again.  It was the only time I can remember shedding a tear over the receiving of a gift......not so much because of the gift, but because I guess it was the first time I realized truly how much “Oma and Poppy” were willing to sacrifice for Bart and I.<br><br>Thankfully, the sacrificial giving wasn’t limited to only those things physical.  Mom and dad made sure that we were in Church services at every available opportunity.  As the old saying goes, we had a “drug problem” in our family.  We were “drug” to church each week.  At the time, I didn’t know just how blessed I was to have parents who loved us enough to make sure the Lord’s Church was a priority in our lives.  Bart and I knew that if there ever had to be a line drawn in the sand, that Sunday School would come before trying to hit a 0-2 pitch over the left field wall.  Now at 38 years old and raising 3 kids of my own, I am eternally indebted to my parents for instilling in me what I now try to instill in their grandchildren.  <br><br>I am satisfied that if you receive this weekly bulletin, that you are, at least on the surface, interested in God and spiritual things.  I am also satisfied though, that many of you who read this are more concerned with making sure your kids and grandkids get the latest and greatest under the Christmas tree than you are with making sure that they understand there are things in this life that are more important than something that needs new batteries every now and then.  <br><br>Even though we are still about 4 weeks away from New Years resolution time, I want to challenge you to go ahead and make a new commitment.  Do all that you can to help those around you, especially your own kindred, to understand that this life and all its contents are only temporary.  Let’s plan to be in Church services more....let’s plan to stay for Sunday School more.....let’s plan to be a part of every Church activity that we possibly can.  Develop a “drug” problem in your family.  Someday, maybe on the other side of eternity, you just might get a “thank you” from all of your children.  I can assure you that the appreciation you will receive will have nothing to do with something that needs the Energizer Bunny.  They say you can recharge batteries by putting them in a freezer or in some place cold.  If some don’t straighten up, they had better have a pocket full of batteries going into eternity.  They won’t recharge very well where they are headed.   <br><br>Go the extra mile - Devin<br><br>