I’m sharing a very personal story about our daughter Kathleen. Kathi was born in DeKalb, IL., not long before President Kennedy’s assassination. She moved with us to the Texas Panhandle to pastor a young congregation when she was five weeks old. No, really, Kathi didn’t pastor a young congregation at the age of five weeks. (g) Her older brother, Tim, was two years old. I wanted a daughter very, very much!

From her earliest years, she was so shy. When someone spoke to her, she’d hide behind her Mom’s skirt or my pant leg. She had real curly hair which was often swept up on top of her head and encircled by a rubber band. I always thought it looked like a hairy palm tree. (g)

The night before I took her to her first kindergarten class, I told her (rather jokingly) that once she started school, she would lose her shyness and be much more outgoing. Imagine my absolute surprise when I picked her up the next day. She came out of the school building, bubbly and laughing. I guess there is something to the power of suggestion. (g)

From an early age, Kathi set her sights on becoming a schoolteacher. In fact, one day she came home and asked us if she could change the spelling of her name from “Kathy” to “Kathi”. When we asked her “why”, she said that the “y” hung down and made the next line look “messy”. She practiced her skills on her vast collection of stuffed animals. At one point, she thought if her bedroom were painted her favorite color – purple – it would be a perfect place to practice her teaching skills. We painted it various shades of purple.

Her Mom taught her piano. She did well with artistic pursuits. She had a problem identifying members of the animal kingdom from time to time. One day she came running into our home quite upset about a “fwog” that had invaded the tractor tire sandbox. I hustled outside to notice a turtle moving slowly across the sand.

One of my favorite pictures of her shows her eating a huge slice of watermelon at a place called Robber’s Roost not far away in the Oklahoma Panhandle. That picture won a photography contest in which it was entered.

One day she told me that she’d fallen in love with a weeping willow tree. I explained to her that we lived in church owned housing and if we moved, we couldn’t take the tree with us. We then moved to Pensacola, FL and bought our first home. Surely now I could fulfill my promise and plant a weeping willow tree for her. No such planting could happen because we had a septic tank. A willow tree, with its massive root system that voraciously seeks water, would most likely destroy our tank. Then we moved to Sarasota. Another septic tank! (drat)

Time moved on and Kathi continued to grow and mature into one of the finest young ladies I’ve ever known. (You might detect a bit of fatherly pride and prejudice here, but I think I’m allowed!)

Kathi went away to college. After finishing college, Kathi began teaching school. She was selected Teacher of the Year. Now, she’s only two short classes away from getting her Master’s Degree and plans to go for a Doctorate. She never mentioned my promise or bugged me to keep it. I thought of it quite often, though. In my book a promise made to God or another human being stays on the books until fulfilled or the other person releases one from the promise. After all, God doesn’t renege on His promises – EVER!

Kathleen is now married to school teacher/minister, William. Pat and I have become good friends with him. They live in a lovely home which I’ve dubbed, “Mansion On The Hilltop”. It is an incredibly beautiful setting, but, alas and a lack, it ALSO has a septic tank.

On a recent visit, a compromise solution occurred to me. I asked her if there was another tree that we could substitute for the willow tree. She said that she’d love to have a Japanese Blood Red Maple tree. What a lovely coincidence. It was the same kind of tree we’d just planted at Mom Caron’s home in NY.

Well, this fall, when the weather cools, the tree will be purchased (she already has the money from us) and planted amongst lots of other trees, berry bushes, rose bushes, and a huge garden. How fortunate that this tree will grow up surrounded by love and the best of care.

Why share this story with you? Do you have unkept promises, to God or fellow human beings? If so, they must be dealt with. We must either be released or keep the promise.

Let me know what you think. Tell me about your experiences with promises if you wish.  Use the “Leave a Reply” box below!  I count on hearing from you.

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