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Speaker: Glenn Rawson
Hi, this is Glenn Rawson. One of the most powerful ways to share history and heritage is by the telling of stories. We began sharing inspiring stories nearly 30 years ago. Each of those stories is true and was intended to inspire and strengthen faith. Over the years, those stories have reached millions around the world. This podcast is for you to listen, learn and enjoy.
First Story: Don’t You See It? 00:36
There is no substitute for the wisdom of years that comes with parenting. This first story takes me back a long time when I was just a wee little boy, working with my dad on the ranch. I can remember the spot where I was standing up on the plateau above our ranch house, where some of our ground was. I remember standing there with my dad outside the pickup, looking off into the distance when this occurred.
It was a common thing in those days where we grew up to see deer in the hills around our place. And my dad, some of you will appreciate this, seems to have an uncanny knack for spotting deer from a long distance, even in heavy cover. “Couldn’t you see him? He’d say, “He’s standing right there near the tree”. And I’d squint and I’d strain. But try as I might. It just seems like I could never see him the way dad did. “Oh, come on! Dad says, “He’s right there.”
And he’d repeat the directions and point. Sometimes I think he even grabbed my head and pointed in the right direction. Now once in a while I’d see the buck in the brush. But most of the time, I couldn’t find it. I was even tempted at times to say yeah, I see it. I see it. When I really didn’t. Just so I wouldn’t look so stupid. Sometimes, I wondered if Dad was just pulling my leg. But now I know. Dad always did see them. His trained eye knew what to look for. In time, I grew to be able to do the same thing to see things that others could not see. Now, a related story.
Many years ago, two young men attended a church meeting and listened to a man speak at great length from the scriptures. As the meeting closed, and the two young men exited the building, one turned to the other and remarked, that was absolutely the most boring meeting I’ve ever been to in my life. All he did was called scriptures. I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.
And suddenly, he noticed that his friend was in tears. That was the most spiritual meeting I’ve ever been to in my life. His friend said, I think I’ve had my life changed.
There are those especially among the young, who wonder at times, Why all this fuss about religion and church and God etc. Be patient with them. Like the buck in the brush that you see so plainly. They don’t. If you push too hard, they might be tempted to feign sight or even question your honesty. There will come a time. And it’s not an if, it’s a when, when they [like the boy] will hear for the first time and their lives will be changed forever. And to those of you who haven’t seen yet or heard, may I say? Keep looking. Keep squinting, because when he finally pops out at you, it’ll be the greatest sight you have ever seen.
Second Story: I Made a Vow 04:16
Now, this next story was a recent discovery and a powerful one for me. The date was October 28, 1856 and the place was Red Buttes Camp, near Bessemer’s Bend on the Sweetwater River in Wyoming, not far from Casper. It was here at that camp that the Martin Handcart Company was stranded and suffering from the cold and dying daily.
The Martin Company was simply unable to go any further down the trail. It was into that pathetic scene where hundreds were stranded that Joseph A. Young, Abel Garr and Daniel W. Jones rode with all speed. These men were the advanced riders of the rescue party come from the Salt Lake Valley to help them set by brother Brigham.
Albert Jones was part of that company of stranded immigrants. He was 16 years old at that time, and he later described that scene as the three rescue riders rode in. He said,
“Joseph A. Young… rode a white mule down a snow covered hill or dug way. The white mule was lost sight of, on the white background of snow, and Joseph A. with his big blue soldiers’ overcoat, its large cape and capacious skirts rising and falling with the motion of the mule, gave the appearance of a big blue winged angel flying to our rescue. The scene that presented itself on his arrival I shall never forget; women and men surrounded him, weeping, and crying aloud; on their knees, holding to the skirts of his coat, as though afraid he would escape from their grasp and fly away. Joseph stood in their midst drawn up to his full height and gazed upon their upturned faces, his eyes full of tears. I, boy as I was, prayed ‘God bless him.’”
Joseph A. and his companions imparted comfort, hope, and the few supplies they had to the stranded emigrants and soon had the Martin Company moving toward the southwest, toward the main camp of the rescuers coming to help them. From that point forward, those men, the rescuers, and others from the Valley did everything in their power to assist and save the suffering saints. The heroic efforts of those rescuers did not go unnoticed by young Albert. He said,
“I followed them from fire to fire and if allowed to cut a stick into two with their axe, I was in my glory—although they laughed at my first attempts to acquire its use. One night, I well remember after I had sung several songs to the boys around their jolly big campfire, I moved to the other side of the fire, from where they were sitting and, in my admiration of these active young fellows, I made a vow. That should I and my people reach the valleys in safety—and a call should come to go out to rescue belated Saints in their incoming through the mountains, I would go out to help them.”
Six years later that call did come. By that time the Church had done away with the handcart emigration system in favor of a better one. It was called the “Down and Back Wagon Trains.” Tough and ready teams of volunteers with wagon and oxen would load up supplies and leave the Salt Lake Valley, east bound, caching the supplies as they went. They would then gather the emigrants at the Missouri River and set out for the Valley. Of his journey to bring the saints in, Albert said,
“Bishop Duke of Provo in the year 1862 called me to take my own dear self—my one yoke of Oxen—and my own wagon and go 1000 miles to Florence to bring in a wagonload of such emigrants. I [made] the round trip in the shortest time of any of the ox trains dispatched from the Valleys in that business [and] fulfilled the vow I had made. This effort is among the most pleasant of my life.”
I thought back on it a lot. My dad was my hero. He was tough. He was rough around the edges. But he was my hero. Everything my dad was that I deemed as good. I want it to be too. That’s why this wall behind me, it memorializes my dad and the good things about him that I never want to forget. I hope young and old that you have a father who was a hero to you, too.
Third Story: A Father’s Prayer 10:00
I don’t believe there is a day that goes by but what I am reminded, as a father, of the great, awesome, and inescapable responsibility it is to be a dad. I am keenly aware that I will be held strictly accountable for my actions in relation to my family. And I’m sure you understand just what a burden that is and how that accountability is looming closer. Therefore, it is my constant prayer that my children will cherish what I cherish, and serve as I have tried to serve. I don’t believe that I’m alone as a father in such sentiments. Years ago these hopes for children to carry on were penned in these lines written by General Douglas MacArthur. They are classic, and where he refers to a son, I would add daughter as well. He said:
“Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud of unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.
“Build me a son, whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be, a son who will know Thee – and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.
“Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm, here let him learn compassion for those who fail.
“Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.
“After all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may not always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.
“Then, I, his father, will dare to whisper, ‘I have not lived in vain.’”
Now, to all of you fathers out there, some of them in my own family whose lives are worn out in service to and yearning for your families each day as my noble father did, I salute you and I ask you to remember just one thing, you’re not alone. Those children belong to God before they belong to you and you will raise them well if you solicit His help.
God bless you Dads, you are loved, and again Happy Father’s Day.
Fourth Story: Run Away to Jesus 13:51
There are times I think when we all feel like we’re completely alone in a great big world, and that no one cares. A friend of mine, in that circumstance recently shared an experience of a time when she felt like the whole world was against her. And that she told me that story of a time when she was just a little girl of about four years of age. She shared some profound wisdom, which I would like to pass along. This is how she related the story to me.
Somehow, Little Sarah got in trouble with their parents, probably for fighting with her younger sister. Obviously now she felt it had to have been Ashley’s fault and not hers. But either way Sarah was disciplined and sent to her room. Oh, she was upset, very upset at the injustice of it all. And she decided that she was going to run away. So from under her bed, she produced her little Care Bear suitcase and she started packing to run away. The first thing she grabbed her Barbie dolls, she stuffed him in. Then came her prettiest dresses. Once it was all in the suitcase, it was all Sara could do to zip it up. But finally, all packed. She marched out and confronted her parents. I’m going to live with Jesus, she announced. At least he loves me. Her wise parents smiled and nodded and said something like, okay, bye, Sarah will miss you.
That was not quite the reaction Sarah wanted. And it infuriated her all the more. She stood there for a moment just hoping they’d give in. And when they didn’t, she turned and stormed out of the house in a huff. Once outside, she started walking, down the road she went. But then she realized she really didn’t want to run away. I mean, after all, where’s the four year old going to go? So she went back to the house and sat down on the front steps. The problem now was, how was she going to get back in the house without her parents seeing her. Well, she tried waiting until they went somewhere else but they didn’t move. Finally, with no other choice she tried to sneak back in but her parents saw her. And you know, they welcomed her back.
Sarah tried this tactic more than once until she realized this technique was just not working. Now, as she got older, Sarah thought of this as just a silly childhood memory. But then one day, it struck her that even from the earliest age, she knew that Heavenly Father and Jesus loved her when it seems no one else did. And that no matter how bad life became, she could always in her words, run away to Jesus.
How did she come to gain such important knowledge at such a tender age? I like the way Sara said, “How blessed I am to be born with such incredible parents and teachers. I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that he loves me and will never leave me comfortless.”
There are those [may be even some of you listening to me tonight] who have temporarily forgotten what you once knew. You may have forgotten or perhaps never knew how to run away to Jesus. The thing I love about this story is I’ve known her long enough. Sarah is a grown woman now. And she says there are still times when she needs to run away to Jesus. How does she do it? She opens the door to the scriptures and prayer. And by so doing, runs away into the welcoming arms of a loving and kind Heavenly Father and Savior. My friends, It’s true. You can do the same. You can run into the encircling arms of love and safety from on high, go on, runaway.
Thank you for listening. Many of the stories you heard today have been published and are archived at glennrawsonstories.com. If you would like more information you can communicate with us there. We will be back again with another podcast next week.
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