Reflections

The title's not talking about looking back to the past. It's referring to how our kids are such reflections of us.

My (almost) three-year-old son brought me one of my videos of the The Tick and asked if we could watch it. I told him that we could watch it as soon as I finished the blog that I was writing for Father's Day. Below is his reply. Verbatim.

"Okay! That would be a perfect plan! Fantastic!!"

Oh, where does he get such a flair for the dramatic? Gee...I don't know.

Father's Day, Part II

It just so happened that I started this blog in May of last year, so one of my earlier posts was on Father's Day about my dad. I've mentioned him a couple of times since then. And, since it is indeed Father's Day, I thought I would throw another little nugget out there.

Okay, two more stories about dad involving his reputation:

First Story:

I grew up in a small town. We had a sod farm, which meant we had several tractors. We not only had our own land, but we also leased land from several people. Often times, to get a tractor from one piece of property to another, we simply drove them. I've spent lots of hours driving tractors, forklifts, and other equipment down the highway.

On one such occasion, I stopped at a gas station and filled up the tractor I was driving with diesel. I topped off the tank, went inside...and realized I didn't have any money. No one was home, and this was WAY before the days of everyone carrying a cell phone.

So what did I do? Simple.

I went up to the counter and said, "I just filled up my tractor and realized I don't have my wallet. Can my dad stop by later and pay?"

"Aren't you Bobby Butler's son?"

"Yes."

"Sure. No problem."

Like I said, simple.

Second Story:

Another time a friend and I were going to go fishing in a little pond on one of the properties that we leased. As we were driving across the property toward the pond, a truck came barreling across the field towards us and pulled up next to my window. The following conversation occurred:

"What do you boys think you are doing?"

"We were gonna go fishing."

"Who told you could go fishing in my pond?"

"My dad said he didn't think you would mind..."

"Who the $%^& is your dad?"

"Bobby Butler."

"Oh...well...you boys go ahead."

And he drove off.

Needless to say, my friend and I were a little concerned from that exchange. We fished for maybe 10 minutes, but we felt so uncomfortable that we headed back to my house. When we arrived, the gentleman was already there, apologizing to my dad for using such colorful metaphors when talking to me.

My dad probably could not have quoted Proverbs 22:1 verbatim:

A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

But he knew the truth of it, he believed it, and did his best to live it. He knew the asset and/or liability a man's (or woman's) reputation can be. His reputation around the small town that I grew up in was that he was a tough but fair, honest, hard-working man. His reputation around our home was that he rocked!

Friends

This past week I've been thinking about friendship in general, and all the wonderful roles friends have played in my life over the years. So, I just thought I would list a few. I don't want to embarrass anyone, so I'm going to let each anecdote remain anonymous. You know who you are.

1. Once, I was riding with my father in his 18-wheeler. One of the front wheels broke into two pieces (yes, it was as scary as it sounds), and we were stranded on the side of the road. My dad called one of his friends (who also owned some trucks) and found a replacement wheel. I called one of my friends, who picked the wheel up, then drove almost three hours to bring us the wheel.
2. I have multiple friends that took a week off of work (some multiple times over the years) to go with me and serve at youth camp. I know they weren't doing it just for me, but it blessed me still.
   
3. I had a friend show up at my house one day with the #1 issue of the comic book "The Tick". One of my favorites. No reason, just thought I might like it.
4. In the midst of moving, I found out I was coming down with Strep Throat. A couple of our friends not only helped us move, but came back over that evening, brought us dinner, and helped with Nathanael and unpacking.
5. One of my friends drove our moving truck all the way from Texas. Some more of my friends, who just happened to be teenagers, came along to help.
6. Several of our friends have come all the way from Texas just to visit us in Atlanta.
7. One of my friends climbed up on the roof of my house to install my TV antenna for me.

There are many, many more that I could list. But I think I'll save some for later.

Ecclesiastes says, "If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"

How true!

Sometimes Not Enough Is Just Enough

At my day job I support and develop electronic medical records. We have things called "GLITCHes", which are problems directly reported by our end-users (usually physicians) to the IT staff. When they submit one, it is sent both to our email and cell phones.

Some of us don't have email on cell phones. We have to go to our email to get the full message because the cell phone text message limit will truncate the GLITCH We will only get the first part, which is usually something like:

"Having problem with referral template, can't open..."

or something like that. Every once in awhile we get a funny one. This past week we got the best one ever. The physician was trying to discontinue a medication on a patient and was having a problem. Here's the message we received:

"Computer will not allow me to disco"

Classic. Maybe you should try to mambo instead...

You May Have Missed These

Since my last post was about a movie, I thought I would follow up with a short list of movies that I've always enjoyed that you might have missed. Here we go!

Roxanne (PG - 1987) - A modern-day retelling of the tale of Cyrano de Bergerac, Steve Martin plays the leading man, with Darryl Hannah in the title role. This is a light, romantic comedy, with just enough stupidity to for my sense of humor. My favorite scene involves a tennis racket, two jerks, and Steve Martin. "Earn more sessions by sleaving!" Wonder what that means? Watch the movie!

Serenity (PG13 - 2005) - Like westerns? Like sci-fi? Like comedy? Like action? A little romance? Written by Josh Whedon, this movie has it all. Set in the future, this movie feels like a western in space. The main group of characters are great, the dialogue is catchy, and the plot will keep you interested until the end. If you watch it and like it, go back and watch the series that preceeded it: Firefly. Didn't make a big splash at the box office, but if you like sci-fi at all, you'll like this.

That Thing You Do (PG - 1996) - Tom Hanks wrote, directed, and starred in this wonderful movie. It's not a musical, but about a band in the '60's, this movie is chock full of great songs. There's a great ensemble cast, but I recommend as you watch it and that you pay special attention to every line that Lenny (Steve Zahn, one of my all-time favorites) says. Recognizables in the cast are Liv Tyler, along with a significant appearance by a young up-and-coming starlet named Charlize Theron. You may have heard of her. Kevin Pollock, Peter Scolari, Rita Wilson (Tom Hank's wife), Chris Isaak and Clint Howard (Ron's younger brother) make cameos.

Sneakers (PG13 - 1992) - It's no secret this is a great movie! Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Akroyd, River Phoenix, David Straithairn, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell and a surprise cameo (I guess it's not a surprise anymore) by James Earl Jones...need I say more? That's a pretty rockin' cast for an espionage movie. Smart, funny, and not too full of itself, this is a very enjoyable movie. The plot keeps you guessing and the final act at the end is great.

Well, there's my list. I'd like to think there's something for everyone. Let me know what you think.

Any recommendations for me? I'm always looking for a good movie!