Hello TSJ Peeps!
What does the word “father” mean to you?
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Since this Sunday will be Father’s Day, it is a good time to reflect on the men who father us – whether they be our personal father or a special father-figure to us.
Fathers, like mothers, are human. And Father’s Day is a day to reflect on all that is good. But if you neither have a father nor have had the connection you long for with your father, this day can stir those mixed emotions. But even our disappointments point to how important a father is and how much we want and need a father.
Thankfully, many wonderful men take father-hungry youth into their embrace and coach them, mentor them, teach them and lead them as their own.
Truthfully, Solomon is especially excited this morning because he was named after one of his forefathers in early biblical history…. King Solomon. So he feels especially puffed up with love and pride to share with you a TSJ story about fatherhood and God.
Forty some years have passed since dad died at age 52 of a heart attack. I still feel that lump in my throat, that hole in my heart, and the utter disappointment that my children would not know their grandpa.
So, on this Father’s Day weekend I want to say thank you to our father. But my thank you ultimately goes God.
Dear Dad,
Thank you for being faithful. You were faithful in love and loyalty to your heavenly Father, to mom, and to all of us as well as the kids you taught in school and the people of our church community.
Thank you for being humble. I remember well how often you said thank you to God. I took that grateful awareness of yours for granted. You lived that message. When you owned the farm, you loved the tilling of the soil, the gathering of the milk, the planting and harvesting of the crops. Your love for both creator and creation has been engrained in all five of us kids. You taught us to say a thank you before we ate our food. You knew that while we all worked hard to plant and harvest the food, we did not create it. And you humbly bowed your head in thanks … often. And more than once I passed your bedroom when the door was slightly ajar, only to see you on your knees. It left an indelible mark on my heart. You did not know I saw you. I never admitted to it.
Thank you for being strong in your convictions. You were driven to do the right thing because it was the right thing, no matter if people saw you or if you ever got credit for it.
Thank you for teaching us about responsibility. You took your role of caring for us very seriously. Thank you for providing for us and for showing us that we all had responsibilities that were important to family living. We worked hard and I certainly did not appreciate its value at the time.
Thank you for never making light of my nightmares. Time and time again I had childhood nightmares and apparently screamed in the night. Remember the time that I was certain there were thousands of black spiders in my bed? You had a hard time waking me up to let me know it was a dream. You turned the light on and pulled back all of the covers. You got on all fours and checked under the bed for me. And you gently told me the dream was not real. I will love you forever for that moment of awakening. It has become a metaphor for life’s bad dreams. I remember you turning on the light and pretending to look for those spiders that were only born out of a fearful imagination.
I am so thankful you were our father. You live on in our hearts. You lived the lessons you wanted us to learn.
You were not perfect, but the Truth you lived was perfect then and perfect now. Anything else is like those spiders. Gone. But a good reminder that the heavenly Father you loved so much and modeled for us…gently comes even now in the nightmares of my life and assures me that I am safe in His Love. You prayed that for all of us and we all love you for it.
Love endures.
Playing in the pastures today with “thank-you, dad” on my heart.
Margie (and Solomon)
