On one Man, and Hope for Others

Mother's Day and Father's Day at most any Christian church in America are stagnantly predictable. On Mother's Day, women are praised up and down, side to side. On Father's Day, men are criticized and called upon to change the fate of the nation.

Well, I'm going be my rebellious self and praise an important man in my life, even though Father's day is a bit behind us. Now you've had a heads up for what's coming, and I don't blame you for moving on to something that interests you more.

I've been working on this bit by bit as the minutes have been available, and as the memories come. Hopefully it has some congruent flow of thought.

First off, I considered including praise of my dear Randy in this post (surprise! it's not about Randy), but (1) that would make this post unbearably long for some and (2) everyone who knows Randy much at all already thinks very highly of his character and skills and (3) some of my praise could get too sappy even for me to review before posting, and I don't want to make anyone gag. ;) Ha!

On we go.

Usually the simile "growing like a weed" is applied to my kids, especially by those who haven't seen them for months at a time. In this case, I'm going to apply it to my 65-year-old father. I have been noticing for the past few years (maybe, decade) that some particular qualities I knew my dad to possess in my youth are being replaced by different ones, producing, you might say, a "new creation."

When I was growing up in my father's house, we all knew him as the pushover: a.k.a the one to ask when you really want something and suspect mom will say "no." While the manipulative relationship doesn't work like that anymore with all grown up kids who largely do what they want without their parents' permission, (although now Mom can hardly say "no" to her grandkids, ha!), Dad IS still the one to get more sucked into and excited about certain new ideas, as the forever optimist and dreamer.

Dad was also fairly passive about some things that really matter, specifically God. In the last decade or so this is where it's been a delight to watch him grow. I've been surprised at some of the wisdom, including references from Scripture, flowing from his mouth for any serious situation or conversation. His college years were not gloriously academic, but he has become an avid student of the Word.

Dad (and Mom) is the example I point to anytime I hear someone discouraged about growing spiritually. Usually these people are Millennials. My parents are Boomers. It's not too late for you. And if you say you can't memorize scripture because you have a bad memory, I just point out that my 60-year-old dad memorized the chapter of Romans 8 (as well as some other passages) AND learned Greek. It's not too late for you.

Dad was also fairly insecure and often would get depressed. His growth in Christ has formed him into a cheerful and content helper-with-anything. One day in the last year or so at work he made a mistake and was temporarily demoted to working "at the dock" (he normally drives the propane trucks around). Mom said that a mistake and consequence like that in his previous life would have had him depressed and sulky around the home, beating himself up and applying the mistake to his worth. But this time, he declared God's sovereignty even over his mistakes and accepted his consequence cheerfully, seeing it as another opportunity to learn and reach some of his co-workers.

Dad has been the butt of many MANY jokes over the years. His family continues jabbing him anytime we're together, because let's face it: he is an easy target and provides plenty of joke material. His first language was German, so there are times that the English language trips him up a little. We have a long list of "Dadisms" and refer to them often, and my goofy brothers provide enactments of said phrases and words (like "Muriel" instead of mural, and "roll up your arms and help" instead of rolling up your sleeves, or "monkey grinder" for organ grinder, and SQUAT team instead of SWAT team, and our favorite recent one: "Digory" instead of didgeridoo. It's a long list. And now Muriel plays the Digory.)

Ahem... The honorable quality I mean to mention here is his good attitude in being the joke victim. All the time, unceasingly. He doesn't get offended, but laughs along with us. I remember him trying to protect his own honor every once in a while before, but his humble attitude has taken over now. He knows that vengeance is God's! And I THINK he knows we love him a lot.

"Disciple" in the Greek simply means "one who learns." A disciple of Christ will not stop learning the ways of Christ, his whole life. I'm happy to be able to see that my Dad didn't just "say a prayer" or "cross a line" and then continue to live however he wanted. Maybe he did for a little while. Rather, he really became a DISCIPLE.