Dad was a "Gentle Giant" to me and my family! He was a "Rock" of faith in every sense of the word. He was not perfect, but God and family were his priorities. He was one of those guys that walked into a room and immediately the room seemed to get a bit "brighter" because he was in it. I remember an experience that my cousin shared with me after he passed away. She was a young teenage girl without a father because MS had taken his life years earlier, and she was struggling at the time to really find her place in this world. She was attending a Dance with other young men and young women and because her lack of self confidence was sitting out the dances on the side. My Father noticed this and he walked over to her during the next slow song and said "Let's Dance". Doesn't seem like a very big thing but to a young girl struggling to find her place it made a huge impact. That is who my father was... The guy who looked for those that were "left out" or who did not seem to be "fitting in" and he would seek them out and go to them.
He was a man with many talents... He was a people person that loved others unconditionally and was loved back by those that knew him. He was an exceptional artist. He had a magnetic personality that seemed to draw others to him because of the way he built others up. He was a great speaker who when he spoke spoke with passion in his voice and could allow you to almost see into the desires of his heart. All that said he could have become a stand out businessman, or a powerful persuader in politics if he truly wanted to, but he chose to place his children and his wife's need's and want's first and sacrificed all of his life and energy to building a foundation based on truth and hard work that has carried all of us through trying times. As he came closer and closer to death and excepting that Brain Cancer was going to take his life on earth, he never became bitter. Yes he was sad about it and wanted more than anything to be around for his wife, kids, and Grandchildren (Who had just started arriving), but he never allowed himself to develop the "why me" attitude. He knew God, and he knew our Father in Heaven has a plan for us, and that even after we leave this temporary life here on earth our work and mission is not finished.
Immediately after brain surgery to remove most of the tumor, several months before he died, dad gathered all of his children together to speak to us. At this point he knew that it was terminal and very serious... without giving up hope for a miracle, dad seemed to know that his time on earth was coming to a close. He spoke to us of Jesus Christ and of His reality, and he spoke to us of truth, finding it and clinging to it. He also said "I will do anything that I need to in this life, or in the next life to help my family return to our Heavenly Father so that we can all be together. Those words stuck with me and were at the time very prophetic to what has occurred in his children's lives since. I have felt him very near since and know that the Lord has truly given His "angels charge over them (us)".
His legacy motivates me daily... He put God and his family first always. He viewed this life as it "really" is and lived so that the love of God, and happiness filled his life. I am grateful for the example of this great man not because he was my dad but because he was a man that made a difference for good to those who surrounded him in his "circles".
All that said.... What was it like when Dad passed through this life into the next and entered the presence of our Savior Jesus Christ?? I believe and would like to think it went a bit like this....Dad quickly moved to Him (Jesus), knelt at His feet and bathed His feet with his tears of gratitude and love, and after a moment of not being able to speak at all he stood to embraced, and thank (Worship) the Savior for helping him every step of the way and for making it all possible. Then his huge smile must have crossed his face as the most contagious laugh, I have ever known to grace this good earth, must have echoed through the heavens while he was welcomed home by his family and friends never to part his heavenly home, the Savior, and God our Heavenly Father again.
I can only imagine!
He "caught" the TRUE Vision of what this life is intended for. Proverbs 29:18
