Remembering Dad

Been thinking about my dad a lot more than usual lately. This time of the year is like that. One reason for that is because he was a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces - Air Force to be exact.

Another reason is that May 27th is the 6th anniversary that he went home to be with the Lord. And the other is that May 22nd is the 6th anniversary that he received Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

When our then assistant pastor prayed with my dad to receive Christ, I had been a Christian myself for 13 years. And I prayed every bit of those 13 years for my Daddy’s spiritual eyes to be opened. We talked about God quite often actually. My dad was a thinker and he loved to think out loud with another person. We’d have long conversations on the phone, talking about this and that, and sometimes I’d find an open door and bring up Jesus. His answer at the end of all the thinking out loud and philosophizing, when I would ask him, “what about your relationship with Jesus?” would always be, “I’m trying.”

I’d do my best to tell him he didn’t have to try. That was the whole beauty of it. There’s nothing to do, you just believe. But for whatever reason, he just couldn’t. Maybe he didn’t feel worthy. Maybe he felt like he was such a bad person that God could never forgive him. But I knew that wasn’t true. Oh, he had done his share of “bad” things, just like we all have. But I knew that God’s love for him and His willingness and ability to forgive far exceeded anything that my dad could have ever done.

And so I kept praying. God had long before told me that it would be right before my dad’s death that he would accept Christ. And that’s exactly what happened. Five days before he died, there in the hospital room, God gave my dad the clarity of mind he hadn’t had in days to be able to hear Pastor Terell as he told him the gospel – that Jesus came to die for his sins so that he could be forgiven of anything and everything he had ever done and that he would have an eternal home in heaven living with his Savior forever.

And he believed.

And early on the morning of May 27th he entered into God’s presence and was finally free from the emotional and physical pain he had carried for so long.

Afterward I received many notes and cards from people who had known and loved my dad very much. And I began to find out that many other people had been praying for him, too. God was faithful to put people in his path throughout his life who had prayed for him. And God was faithful to answer those prayers.

My encouragement to you today is, if there’s someone in your life who you’ve been praying for, maybe for years, whether it’s for salvation or maybe there’s some bondage in their life that they just can’t seem to get free of, keep praying. Don’t ever give up until God says it’s time to give up.

My other encouragement to you is to show them Jesus. Love them as Jesus would love them. After my dad died I just kept thinking I wished I would have talked to him about Jesus a little less and showed him the love of Jesus a little more. He was a very private man, but I still wish I'd done more to show him how much he was loved.

But I know my dad is in heaven now, talking it up with Jesus and with Paul the apostle and no doubt with Thomas and Peter. He’s having the time of his life. And even in the midst of tears, that brings me unspeakable joy.

I love you Daddy and I’ll see you soon.