A Wise Father

Greg could hear the commotion as he neared the room. It was sign up for Little League teams and the room was probably filled with boys and their parents. Sure enough when he paused in the doorway, the desks were no longer in straight rows. Boys were teasing, giving each other playful punches and uttering pet names like, Porker, Bubba, Stinker, Fat lips, and the list went on. None were meant to be mean, but boys emulate their fathers and uncles, who leaned against the shelving along the back wall talking.

Greg pursed his lips and uttered a piercing whistle that had everyone covering their ears. "Welcome to the annual Little League sign up. I hope you all have your permission slips filled out and signed by your parent. Boys, Line up here in front." There was a mad scramble for first place in line but it was immediately stopped by another whistle.

"Wait until I finish speaking. You will find that listening to my directions completely will get you into less trouble and being embarassed when I single out your mistakes. Now, let's start over. You will line up in each row by grades. Oldest by the window and so on." No one moved, he smiled, "That's all, now you can move."

While the boys sorted themselves, Greg and his assistants arranged tables across the front and sat down. They taped paper in front of the desks with the ages of the boys they would be accepting applications from.

"Okay boys, now the first ones step up and hand the coach you application. He will look it over see if everything is in order and give you a packet to take to your parents with all the information for the first day of tryouts. Any questions?" There was none so the men motioned to the first set of boys.

Greg's line had moved very quickly, he had the oldest boys; they had all been through the routine so their paperwork was mostly in order. He looked up to see a face he didn't recognize. He glanced at the name on the application he was handed; Roger Meyer.

"Hello, You are new to this area?"

"Yes, my dad got transferred here a few months ago. My brother and I have played Little League for the last three years." Greg saw that there was a recommendation letter from his former coach attached to the application. It mentioned both Roger and his brother Tom.

"Where's your brother?" Greg looked around the boy and saw another dark haired boy standing right behind him.

"Hi, I'm Tom." He handed Greg his application.

Greg looked them both over and saw all the dates and requirements met, but when he looked at the birthdates, they were just six months apart. Thinking one of the boys made a mistake he looked up at them. Both had dark hair, brown eyes, tanned skin, and though they didn't look identical, there was a resemblance.

"Did one of you boys make a mistake on your form? Your birthdays are just six months apart."

They both grinned, one with dimples one without. "We know. One of us is adopted."

Greg was just a little curious, "If I may ask, which one of you is adopted?'

The boys grinned even wider. He could tell they had been asked this question before. "We don't know."

Now Greg frowned at them thinking they were making fun of him. "Really." he said.

"Sir, we aren't joking."Tom spoke up.

Roger continued, "We have asked our dad every year to tell us which one of us is adopted, but all he says is; it was so long ago he doesn't remember." The boys looked at Greg and shrugged.

Greg gave them each a packet and they went their way. Something stirred in his heart and he blinked a few times. He was adopted, and not once had his father ever showed preference to his brother over him. There were times in his life, he resented being adopted even though he knew he was loved. This father had gone beyond that. At some point the boys would see the truth, but until then, this father wanted his love for each established.

Later that night Greg called his dad.

"I know Father's day is coming up Dad, but I just wanted you to know how much I love you and am proud to call you my father." Greg went on to share the story of the two Meyer boys. Greg knew that when he did meet the boy's father, there were be a deep respect for the man who had two sons.



Galatians 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.