A tribute to my Dad!

• This year I couldn't let Father's Day past without a post about my dad! He has been gone 18 years now! It's so hard to believe that so much of my life has changed since he's been gone! I met and married my husband and had my children years after he went to be with His savior! I have so many memories of my dad some good, some not so good! But the one thing I know is that he loved God and loved me! I am so thankful for what he taught me! Sometimes it was taught with a very strict hand that I fought against, but now I would give anything to be able to sit down and discuss our faith together! Here are just a few things about my dad that I remember:
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  Him singing in church. For a baptist church he was pretty demonstrative! He would ball up his hand in a fist and bring it up and down.
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• The way he smelled! I was just telling Steve the other night how my dad didn't have a bad odor problem. Even after being outside all day he would not really sweat, and when you got close enough to smell him he kind of smell like fresh air!
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• I remember the last time he gave his testimony in church. It was for a Christmas Program. He was supposed to be a man remembering Christmas' past and use his testimony. I don't think they realized how long he would be. Kids started to fidget (they couldn't help it) The passion in his speech was unmistakable. So much emotion in his voice!
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• Every opportunity he was given he used to speak of Christ! Whether in McDonalds in Tucson Arizona, the mall in Tuscon, helping a guy out of a ditch or at work. He would preach Christ! The guy in McDonalds thought he was Billy Graham, and the guy that he helped from the ditch said he not only looked like Billy Graham, but talked like he too!
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• I remember the card he once left me at the bottom of the stairs for Valentines Day!
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• I remember when Kam and I lived in Caledonia he once dropped our winter boots off at our door on the way to work at like 4:00 in the morning.
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• I remember him Singing with my Mom "I tried in vain".
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• I remember his absolutely huge vegetable gardens. I hated picking beans and such! It was like an acre long!
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• Here are some pictures of my dad! I realized I didn't have that many of him here at the house! I should go to my mom's and get some more, but here is my dad! I used to think he was a cross between James Arness (you know Matt Dillion), Billy Graham and Kirk Douglas!

• I remember my nephew Daniel misbehaving in McDonalds and not listening to his mother. My dad held up his hands and asked Daniel if he wanted Grandpa to take him in the bathroom! Daniel said "Gumpa's got big hand!" He did have big farmers hands! All calloused and dirty from working the farm!
• He loved Cardinals! I cannot ever see one of these red birds without smiling and thinking of my dad!

Here is what a friend wrote about my dad after his funeral. This is a woman that grew up with our family (her father was the pastor of our church when I was little). These were things she remembered:

Setting in the nursery with a child on his lap, singing "Until Then"

Standing by the pew giving his testimony, quote the words to "That will be glory for me"

Asking Sharon (her sister) and I over along with your girls to pickup the corn cobs out in the field.

Reading his Bible after the meal even though there was company

Never could talk about his salvation without getting emotional ( a joy most people don't genuinely have)

Stand by his family no matter what had happened to which child.

I can never remember a time when his name was mention as a

• dissension lover
• busy body
• passes harsh judgement
• hypocrite
• unworthy to be a deacon or teacher

Now my dad wasn't perfect. He made many mistakes in life too! I choose here not to remember them. I do know that as he got older he mellowed. All except for his passion for Christ! I wish he had met Steve and my kids! They would have loved him and he them.

Thanks for letting me share! I'm done crying for right now!

Oh, I love this song about "Daddy's Hands" I hope you enjoy it too!