I would like to share a story with you. It’s about my Dad. My father was born in 1941. He’s 72.5 years old. From ordinary, humble beginnings he has had a pretty extraordinary life. But I don’t have time to tell you about it. And, to be honest, I believe there are things I still don’t know. Like, for example he told me on Wednesday that he had been to Egypt. Who knew? I never knew. Maybe I’ll write a book.
What I will tell you is that my father was a student of the world, an “international man of mystery” and lover of “wine, women and song.”
My mother often said that I was my father’s daughter. When I was old enough, I certainly was a student of my father’s, living the wild life (and we certainly don’t have time for that story) ….
When I was 25 years old, I studied the Bible and decided to follow my heavenly father’s voice. One of the hardest decisions I had to make was to be willing to face Dad’s rejection. You see, in my house, the only time we mentioned God or Jesus was usually as swearing, so I didn’t know how he would take it. Honestly, looking back, I don’t think he understood it.
Anyway, that was 23 years ago. In that time, I got married, had two children, my sister got married, my brother unexpectedly died, my nephew was born, my third child was born – I was living my life. In my family I was initially the church weirdo. I gave people Bibles as gifts and didn’t do the things they did.
Meanwhile, Dad moved to New Mexico and got married. He started an art gallery in Santa Fe and named it after my brother.
Then, Dad got prostate cancer, and his second wife divorced him and suddenly, God became real to him. He actually said it happened in an airport. He heard his name being called over the loudspeaker and when he got to the gate, they had his Bible for him. Then he knew God was there. It still took several years more of studying with Wyndham Shaw when my Dad was in town. We also had a conversation over the phone not too long ago about making sure his salvation was secure, according to the Bible. As Mike Lamb says, “Eternity is a long time to be wrong.” Dad promised he would study when he was here next. The cancer is in his bones now and the doctor said it is time for him to be with family. So I went to bring him home. True to his word, Dad studied with Wyndham and was baptized on February 10th -- my brother’s birthday -- truly a miracle.
There are so many Scriptures that come to mind in this story. I think of the worker in the vineyard who gets hired at the eleventh hour, but still gets the full reward. I think of how God never gives up on us, and we should never give up. And when I look at Dad, I think of this scripture in 2 Corinthians 4:16: "Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal."