ZONDERVAN PUBLISHING HOUSE E-MAIL ALERT SERVICE HEY DAD! WEEKLY
INSIGHT (5/19/98)

(File for future reference / Copy and send to others)

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Taken from the DAD’S DEVOTIONAL BIBLE, Robert Wolgemuth, Author of
the Devotional Readings. It will be published Spring 1999. When it’s
published, depend on this helpful resource to guide your daily life as a
dad!

NO LONE RANGERS HERE
Passage for the Day: Exodus 17:8-16
Verse for the Day: Exodus 17:12

“With a cloud of dust and a hearty, ‘Hi yo, Silver!'”

This is the way one of my favorite black and white television
programs began. The Lone Ranger, starring Clayton Moore, was about a
good guy who dressed in white but wore a black mask. A real metaphor
mix, if you know what I mean. However, this wasn’t even the starkest
paradox in the program. The Lone Ranger never went anywhere alone; he
always took his faithful companion, Tonto, along. He was not, in fact, a
lone ranger!

How disillusioning this is for all those dropouts who refer to
themselves as “Lone Rangers!”

God never intended for you and me to do our jobs as dads all by
ourselves. Believe it or not, he has surrounded us with faithful
sidekicks and partners. Certainly, our wives can share in carrying the
load. Youth ministers, extended family, neighbors . . . many of these
people are only a phone call away from helping with the daunting task of
effective fathering.

The Israelites were in a battle with the Amalekites. It was one of
those fights that could have gone either way. As the field commander,
Moses discovered that when he held his hands high, his army prevailed.
But when his arm grew tired and fell to his side, his army lost ground.
So, Moses’ two lieutenants, Aaron and Hur, stood next to him and held
his hands high for him. As a result, the Israelites prevailed.

Isn’t this a spectacular picture? The man charged with being the
leader – the father — of his people gives his family a victory by
asking his friends to help. There’s no indication that this was hard for
Moses to do. We don’t know if he had to swallow his pride and admit that
his arms were tired, too heavy to hold up by himself. All we know is
that he got the help he needed and saved his family.

You are not the Lone Ranger. You cannot do your job as a dad all
alone. You aren’t even supposed to try. Just remember that even the Lone
Ranger wasn’t a lone ranger.

DAD’S DEVOTIONAL BIBLE, Robert Wolgemuth, Author of the Devotional
Readings ($24.99 / ISBN 0-310-90134-0 / Hardcover / 1504 pp. / 1999 /
Zondervan). Look for it Spring 1999.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Robert Wolgemuth is the author of the
best-selling book She Calls Me Daddy, The Portable She Calls Me Daddy,
Pray with Me Daddy, and the DAD’S DEVOTIONAL BIBLE. His monthly column,
“Hey, Dad!” is featured in HomeLife magazine. Robert is also the founder
of Wolgemuth & Associates, Inc., a literary representation agency. An
elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Robert teaches a Sunday school
class with over 400 members. He and his wife, Bobbie, have two adult
daughters, a son-in-law, and two precious grandchildren.

Regularly visit the HeyDad’s Website at http://www.HeyDad.com
You’ll
get:
* Encouragement to grow in the Christian faith
* Practical
advice on being a dad
* Ideas to have more fun and to be more fun