(Tomorrow is Father's Day. It has been over a year since my father died. This is a letter I wrote him just before he died. His Alzheimer’s was far enough along, he couldn’t understand it, but my mother said he kept it with him in his bed.)
An open letter to my Dad (written February 15, 2011)
Dear Dad:
I was thinking about you just now and wanted to tell you hi and to give you a get-well letter.
I came across a picture the other day that really hit me. It is in Freeport, TX, in the 1950’s. we were at a gathering of some kind, I believe at Howard and Linda Dickson’s house, probably after Sunday night church at the Freeport Church of Christ. We met a lot after church and sang. Then we would eat stuff and have a good time.
You worked for Houston Lighting and Power as a lineman at the time. You were a strong man, one that I stood in awe of. You were healthy and sun burned. In the picture you are looking at your sons, Gerald, your youngest, and me, Johnny, your oldest. I don’t know what we were doing, but whatever it was, we were doing it knowing that a lot of people loved us and that you were watching.
You were a good leader in the church. If I am not mistaken, you were even a deacon in the Freeport Church of Christ. And you were an elder in churches later.
You led singing and preached and taught and led by example. In general you did whatever you could do to make the church better and to advance the cause of the Lord. There was nothing you wouldn’t do for the church or for others. I have seen you work hard all week and then go help someone in their garden or building something or working on their car. You were always there for people.
You were a good man. You were honest and ethical and tried your best to teach your boys and you little daughter, Nancy Lea, who is eleven years younger than I am, all of those things.
Last night while I was praying in our Monday night prayer meeting, I thanked God for the influence you had on our lives as children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
That influence is what kept me strong all the years I was in the army and before I became a minister of the gospel in 1974.
I do what I do today in large part because of that influence.
I pray that the Lord heal you. But above all, I pray that the will of the Lord be done in your life. You are a godly man, even though you have trouble remembering things now. Your life has been exceptional in that regard. You loved your Lord, you loved your wife and you loved you children and would do anything for them.
My prayers are also with Mom that she be the kind of person she wants to be. She too is a godly woman and I love her.
I love you. And may God bless you
No comments:
Post a Comment
To comment, post your comment and click the anonymous button. It would be nice if you signed it so I could know who you are.
You are welcome to say anything you want as long as it is nice. If I don't like it, or it is ugly, I will take it off, place it into the garbage disposal, grind it up, and allow it to be flushed into the Gulf of Mexico where it will be eaten by a fish and then excreted where it will lie on the bottom of the ocean until it is covered up by other comments.