My daddy’s old pick-up truck

Psalm 103:13 “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”

My father started training me in his trades when I was about ten years old. He was a plumber and electrician and by the time I could legally drive, he would send me out on jobs and he could stay at the store or do other jobs. He intended to teach me how to paint, but after the first job, decided it was hopeless.

I was sixteen years old in 1963 and about that time he saved enough money to buy an old pick-up truck. It was a 1940 something model. It had a flat wooden bed with a grease-coated six cylinder engine, a three speed manual transmission with the stick shift in the floor.

His store was in the downtown area of our small western Kentucky town. That area of the town was about 300 yards long and the approach highway was down-hill for about a quarter mile. Through my diligent persistence and experimentation I discovered, when coming down that long hill in his truck, I could shut off the engine, hold the clutch and let it coast.

Then by turning on the key and popping the clutch in third gear, it would back-fire. The bang was deafening and anyone hearing it would have thought the Russians were coming. In 1963 that was a scary thought.

Then one day Dad just happened to be up the street working on a water heater as I came down the hill in the explosive truck. He just happened to be coming out the side door as I popped the clutch and the boom echoed off the post office wall.

I pulled in at the store (unaware of being caught) and had started unloading tools and pipe when he walked up. He lit in to me like I had good sense (which at 16, I did not). I could plumb or wire a house but my brain power was not hardly developed (if you’ve ever been 16, you understand).

I didn’t see daddy upset very often but at that point he was not happy. He had paid $250 for that truck and it was his prize possession next to his pipe threaders and wrenches.

If I had laughed while he was chewing on me, the situation would have escalated into blood shed I’m quite sure: mine! I had to bite my lip pretty hard to keep from “busting” out laughing. By that afternoon he was sending me to another plumbing job. Praise Jesus he was very forgiving or forgetful, I’m not sure which.

Daddy loved me (most days), I think. He was a good father, definitely much better than I was a son. He taught me the practical things the school system even back then omitted. I was the only one in my class that could install plumbing or wire a house.

Our high school principal called me when there was a plumbing or electrical problem at the school and because of my participation in such endeavors, he was reluctant to punish me for my behavioral transgressions. We’ll not discuss those further.

One day when I was in typing class (1963), he came after me. That was when corporal punishment was practiced and discipline worked. When he said “Van, come here,” my blood stopped flowing!

The city water tower was adjacent to the school yard and on the side of the typing classroom. The gauge on the side was stuck and he had me climb the 100 foot tower to unstick it. He knew the town kids climbed it with water balloons on Halloween. (Not me of course, the other kids).

My childhood and teenage years could be the subject of several books. Daddy and I had a lot of fun joking with each other and except for the backfiring incident, I can’t think of any major disagreements we ever had.

His greatest teaching to me was the subject of church and Bible study. I treasure the things I learned from him much more that all the knowledge, facts and concepts I learned in my years in public schools.

Daddy only “cussed” when he needed to emphasize a point and then it wasn’t heavy duty. His living standards were mostly in line with Jesus’ teachings. He tried to set a good example, not only for me but also the other town kids. A good father is a rare treasure, and praise Jesus, I had one.

Fathers in the Bible include a multitude of qualities, or lack of. Should Adam have taught Cain he should not kill his brother? Probably Adam would never have thought of such a thing happening.

Abraham tried to straddle the fence between Sarah and Hagar and in the meantime, raise Ishmael and Isaac to be decent, hard-working men. Being the father of the Jewish and the Arabic people, his positive qualities probably outweighed the negative.

Isaac was the father of Esau and Jacob. He allowed his wife Rebecca, to favor Jacob and by deception take the birthright and blessing from Esau. Many reasons have been surmised for why God let that happen, but Isaac’s failing to teach right from wrong to both his son and wife resulted in a changing of Biblical history.

Of course, this was God’s plan and so was the fathering of ten sons by Jacob whose names became ten of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob’s eleventh son was Joseph who was sold into slavery in Egypt by his older brothers. In another of God’s plans coming together this resulted in Joseph becoming a Prince of Egypt and bringing Jacob and his family of sixty-seven people to Egypt to save them from a famine.

Joseph was given a wife (Asenath) by the Pharaoh, and became the father of Ephraim and Manasseh; the names of the other two of the twelve tribes. In recognizing God’s plan, we must see His strategy to display His awesome power in the parting the waters of the Red Sea and empowering Moses to lead His people out of bondage.

God’s plan and Bible prophesy always come together. Perhaps His plan for each of us is embedded within our father’s actions. Good or bad, right or wrong, our fathers had an effect on us as adult human beings.

Whereas I cherish my experience with my dad, others may not have that same type of memory. I would think bad memories of a father relationship might motivate a person to be a better parent. We cannot always fashion our lives after another but we can learn from their mistakes.

Matthew 1: 20-21 “But after Joseph had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’”

In being obedient to the Lord’s actions and command, Joseph the carpenter became one of the greatest and most known fathers of all time. He raised Jesus as his son and taught Him the trade of builder as was practiced in that time period.

Father’s Day 2024 will be for some a great memory and celebration. For me, I have great memories and I miss my dad as much today as I did in 1984 when he died.

For any father or future father that may read this: bring up your child in the ways of the Lord; teach them to respect and revere God and the Bible. I know many would argue this but they would be wrong. The greatest teachings for all of us are in the Holy Bible.

We have a hope for an eternal existence by believing by faith Christ Jesus was crucified for the remission of sin and resurrected. I cannot imagine living a life thinking “this is all there is.” Happy Father’s Day

Van Yandell is a retired Industrial Arts teacher, an ordained gospel evangelist and missionary, from Fredonia, KY.