If my father were still living, he would be 91 today. It's hard for me to believe that he has been gone for 10 years. There are some moments I feel he isn't even gone. My explanation for that is that since he is in heaven, when I pray or when I'm reading the bible, my proximity to God increases my feelings of closeness to my dad.
My dad wasn't perfect. But, one of the things I know he did, his whole life, was work on being a better dad, husband, person, and most of all Christian.
He would get up every morning at 4am to have time to read and study his bible before going to work. If he worked nights, he would just manipulate his schedule again so he would have time to study. I think Dad only went to college one year, but when it came to the bible, he knew more than anyone I ever met.
He was also big on Christian tracts. I think I have probably read about 100 little booklets that he would get in the mail and then he would pass on.
My dad wrote letters to prisoners in jail. I remember asking him once what did this person do? His response was he didn't know but God would forgive them if they asked God to. He and mom even helped some men at the half-way house to get to church. I sometimes worried that men he wrote might get out of jail and come and do something bad to my parents, but it never happened. I believe God protected them.
One of the things I knew about my dad was that he loved my mother and all 4 of us kids as well as our spouses and our children. Family was important. One time when I was about twelve years old, it was Thanksgiving time. My dad was Air Force reserve and served once a month on weekends. He had driven to Oklahoma City (Tinker AFB) and while there got snowbound. Because the holiday was coming up, as soon as the roads cleared enough for him to get out of the City, he drove as far as possible in the car. He then caught a ride with a trucker who drove him as far as roads were cleared. That put my dad about six miles away from our house in the country. Once he was dropped off, he then crawled, walked and tramped through drifts of snow to get home. He would stop at houses along the way and ask them to call my mom so she would know how far he had made it. Because the snow and drifts were a little disorienting, he actually walked a couple miles past where he should have turned to go to our house. I remember it taking most of the day for him to get home, and he arrived before dark. Family was important and being home for Thanksgiving was worth it to him.
My dad had a lot of friends. I don't think he really ever met a stranger. He was likely to strike up a conversation with anyone wherever he went.
My dad got fired from teaching Sunday school one time. He was a really good Sunday School teacher and the kids loved him. They also learned a lot. He believed that memorizing scripture was a real important part of being a Christian. When the Sunday School material only provided one little verse per lesson, my dad spent hours finding other verses that went with the lesson. When the preacher found out he was "adding to" the Bible lesson, he asked my dad to teach "only what was provided or not teach". My dad chose not to teach. Our family then joined with other families and began a new church not far from where we lived. We first met at a Lion's Club building, then bought property and built a church building.
In my dad's later years, after he retired, he began to volunteer at the hospital. He was gone so much that my mom decided she would join him as a volunteer. They both volunteered for a long time. They also distributed "The Greatest is Love" Bibles. These were New Testament bibles set up in hospitals and hotel racks that people could donate towards if they wanted, or have for free.
I found notes in one of Dad's bibles after he passed. He studied a lot, but from his notes, he never felt pious about his relationship with God. He wrote time and time again "I want to be a better Christian and I want to be closer to God."
Dad's hope came true. Hope you have a great birthday party in heaven, Dad! I love and miss you!
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