Pop Pop Epistle #28 – About “Potamus” Finding Milk

Dear Grandkids,

I always enjoy playing “Find the Potamus” with you when you are at our house. But do you know the history of the “Potamus”? You probably know that my favorite animal is the hippopotamus.  This is true for several reasons: 1) I think they have a really cool name that is fun to say, 2) they are magnificent creatures, and 3) they are incredibly graceful despite their size and weight.

Back in 2006, Nona and I and your parents all had a chance to travel to Botswana Africa for an International World Changers Mission trip which I had the honor of directing. While we were there we were able to visit a game preserve and to see hippos in their natural habitat (not in a zoo). They are quite fascinating. Anyway, while I was there I bought the  wood carved hippopotamus  that we use for our “Find the Potamus” game.

One time when we were playing I had found a particularly good hiding spot and you could not find the potamus. So we came up with the idea that drinking some “potamus finding milk” might help. And it just so happened that we had some in the refrigerator. (For those of you reading this who are unaware, potamus finding milk also goes by the name of Mapleview Chocolate Milk. Yum! Yum!)

And it turns out that drinking the milk does indeed help to find the potamus. So we make it a regular part of our game now and have created a fun little milk drinking tradition that I very much enjoy as we gather around a glass of milk and all drink at the same time using especially designed potamus milk drinking straws. Though I suspect that it will become harder and harder to do this once the 3 younger cousins are old enough to play.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about how good that milk is… and it prompted me to think about a few verses in Scripture that you would do well to remember as you grow up:

1 Peter 2:2-3  – ² Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.  – Every time you drink a glass of milk or put milk on your cereal or play the potamus finding game be reminded that the gospel is pure spiritual milk that you desperately need each day so that your soul can be nourished and so that you can continue to grow up in your salvation. Without this milk of the gospel – the essentials of the faith –  you will stay a little baby and will not mature as you ought to. 

But there will come a time, hopefully sooner rather than later, that you will need more than just milk if you are going to continue to grow and be strong in the Lord.

Hebrews 5:13-14 – ¹³ for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is (still) a child. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. You will need to learn to chew on the meat of the Word. You will need to let God’s Word satisfy you instead of allowing your appetite to be filled by the junk food that this world will continually offer.

Ponder these verses and ask your parents to help you to continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And each time that we play the potamus finding game I will try to remind you of these things as well.

And never ever forget that you are very very loved,

Pop Pop