hitting jesus in the nose

Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you. (2 Timothy 1:13-14)

I was probably six or so. It was the Church of Christ in Freeport, Texas. My mother was teaching Bible class and was blessed with my presence.

She was teaching about Jesus and how he is everywhere. As little children, we were trying to figure out several things simultaneously: how he was everywhere, why it mattered to us or anybody else for that matter, when we would be through, when lunch was, what we would have, what the girl across from me was doing.

You know. Vital theological stuff.

But, of course, there was a variable in the equation. Me. I have always had a problem with keeping my mouth closed anyway. So when she said he was everywhere, I said, Is he here in this room. She replied, yes. Is he here near us? Yes. Is he here beside me? Yes.

So I reached over to where Jesus would be if he were there and I hit the imaginary Jesus in the nose, while making a POOF! sound. You know the sound they make in westerns when they hit each other. The other children laughed.

She was so excited for my theological breakthrough. And she rewarded me later with a spanking.

The point? The point is that she was trying her best to teach me what Jesus was and who he was to the best of her knowledge. Now the fact that I was a smart mouth little twerp didn’t deter her. She kept on.

My mother was, and is still, a good woman. She had her flaws and her problems, yes. As do we all. But here she was, a young woman of maybe 24 or 25 trying to teach a bunch of little children something that even learned theologians do not fully understand.

And she did a good job, I think. She instilled within me a love for God that lasted through my stupid years, and keeps me today.

That pattern of sound teaching is one that many do not have. They had to get it themselves or they do without it. But I had a godly mother who tried her best to instill it within me, within my heart, within my soul.

That is a strong pattern. And in that pattern is power, Holy Spirit power, the kind that you cannot find anywhere else: the love of a godly mother for her child.

My wife was that kind of woman and her mother too. I pray that my children can be.

And I thank God for my mother.

Ruby is her name, by the way. Ruby Lorena Cliver. And she lives in Tyler, TX.