Rev. Richard Hocker: My Grandpa

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Hocker

I remember all the magic and wonder of Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Hocker. It was wonderful. We would always travel to Kentucky sometime during the holidays to celebrate with them. There would be Grandma's famous Applesauce Stack Cake and her cookies. I loved sleeping in the front room on the feather ticking. You could nearly disappear in that feather ticking because it was so soft. I would wake in the morning to the wonderful aromas of baking biscuits and frying bacon. Grandma could have gone into business with her biscuits and gravy. If she had then probably we would have never heard of Cracker Barrel. Instead, all up and down the interstate in the south you would see signs advertising, "Tilda's Diner - The best homemade cooking you ever tasted. Come on in and just eat as long as you see anything."

Anyway, while Grandma was busy in the kitchen, Grandpa Hocker busied himself entertaining the grandkids. Hey, we didn't need Santa, nor elves, nor Rudolph to have a great Christmas. Grandma Hocker was everything Mrs. Santa ever aspired to be, and the Jolliest elves of all could have taken lessons from Grandpa, including Santa himself. Grandpa enjoyed pulling this Jack and Jill routine on us.

He would do his trick with a little rhyme:

Two little birds sitting on a limb,
One named jack and one named Jim.
Fly away Jack! Flay away Jill!
Come back Jack Come back Jill.

Then he also enjoyed doing a rubber band trick, and a stunt called "magic writing." It was such great fun!

He had some of the neatest toys! There was this wooden toy that was simply three long pegs with various size wooden squares on them. There was a special way to organize the wooden squares on the pegs. It was a brain teaser.. Can't you tell by the twinkle in his eyes that he just loved to play, and he did. He played with his grandchildren, and we will never forget, how special he always made us feel, whether he was making Jack and Jill (little piece of white paper stuck to the finger nails of his index fingers) fly away, or making rubber bands leap form his first two fingers to his pinky and ring finger.

Now he could be serious, too, and he was serious about prayer. We would always be called to get on our knees for prayer in the living room before eating at his table in the kitchen. Wow, did he ever pray!

This Christmas in an effort to share a little of Grandpa Hocker with the rest of my family, I have put together birthday sets of coins. You see Grandpa was also a coin collector of sorts. He never spent much money on collecting, probably because he didn't have much money to spend on it. To "coin" a phrase, "He was just a country preacher." He only collected what he could find in circulation, mostly pennies and nickels, and a few dimes. Coins of larger denominations were too valuable back then to just leave them lying around.

Well, I have most of Grandpa's old coins and through the years have added a few. This year, with Dad's permission of course, I have used some of those coins to build their birthday sets. If they were born before Grandpa crossed "The Lonely River," then the pennies and nickels at least came from Grandpa's collection. I added the others to complete their sets, in loving memory of Christmas with the "Little Country Preacher," and his wife of a lifetime, Rev. Richard Hocker and his wife, Tilda - to us Grandpa and Grandma Hocker.

This morning I am thanking God for a heritage of faith. I don't know how far back your heritage of faith extends. Perhaps you may be the first person in your family to receive Christ as Lord and Savior and to begin this walk of faith,. If so, then I want to encourage you to begin a heritage of faith with your family. Joshua encouraged the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 6:4-7,

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Furthermore, Solomon's wrote these words of wisdom in Proverbs 17:6,

Children's children are a crown to the aged,
and parents are the pride of their children.

Real success in discipleship comes when your disciple disciples someone else. When our children are successful parents, then our heads are crowned with glory. When our spiritual children lead others to Christ, then we can rejoice that discipleship has made it's circle.

May you have a blessed day, from Granpa and I. Praise the Lord.