It was almost one year ago today that my dad died.  He was the first really close family member who ever died.  This being Memorial Day weekend, I’d like to look back/remember . . . Dad.

Long Ago

My dad was born in 1931 to a family that was centered around God.  They had moved to Northern Illinois from Southern Illinois.  And when they couldn’t find a group of Christians to worship with, at least one that was not reasonably nearby, they decided to start having worship services in their house.  Soon, others began worshipping with them.  It was decades before that group decided to find a more “public” place to assemble for worship services.  That group still meets to this day, although the names and faces have changed over the years.  Some moved away.  Some REALLY moved away(they died), my dad’s parents being two of them.

Not As Long Ago

My dad was “raised in the church,” I hate that phrase, but people understand the point.  He eventually became a member of the church in his early twenties, but fell away.  That happens to some people, in the Parable of the Sower(Matt. 13:1-9), Jesus talks about a sower who sows seed onto four different types of ground.  The different grounds are different people, or more accurately, the different ways that different people respond to the message of the gospel.  Of the four soils(responses), two of them are people who accept the word of God, but later fall away.

My dad had been away from the church for years.  Then I was born, and, according to him, I was asking questions he did not know the answers to(I was four years old at the time).  Wanting to be a good dad, he wanted to get me the correct answers to my questions(Deut. 6:6-7).  He didn’t know the answers, but he knew where he could get them.  So we started going to church.  He eventually rededicated his life to God.

Even More Recent

Dad used to have his Bible and some reference materials on the dining room table.  He would have his stuff all spread out, studying the Bible late into the evening.  This room was in the front of the house, so you could see him from outside.  One day, a neighbor told me that he knew my dad was practicing “his crazy religion” because he could see my dad through the dining room window at night, sitting at the table with his books and papers.  Reading.  Making notes.  I don’t think I ever told my dad about the neighbor, but I think Dad would have laughed, considering the source.

Needing Help

One Sunday morning I was in Bible study(many people would call is Sunday school), and I had not done my lesson.  I was asked a very easy question in class and got it wrong(there were three choices and I chose wrong).  I was given another opportunity to answer the question correctly(so now I was down to two options).  I again got it wrong.  I was so embarrassed.  And by this time, Dad was known in the congregation for having a good understanding of the Bible.  This was not good.  So I asked for help.  I would sit with Dad on Saturday night, both working on our lessons for the next morning.  Dad would be working on his lesson, and I would keep interrupting him with questions about my own lesson.  He ALWAYS had time to help me.  And I learned a lot.  After that, I don’t think I ever had a question asked of me in class that I did not know the answer to.  I went over the material so thoroughly, I probably could have taught the class.  I eventually did, but that’s a story for another time.

More Recently

As time passed, Dad acquired more and more study aids.  Some might wonder why he bothered.  I don’t recall ever asking him a Bible question that he didn’t either already know or that he couldn’t look up.  He was amazing.  Then, just a year or two before he died, I saw a sale on some really good Bible study material.  I “knew” he would be interested, so I called him to tell him.  He reluctantly said that he didn’t think it would be a good idea.  I was shocked.  I knew he would love to get his hands on some additional volumes to add to a set that he had.  Then he told me that he could no longer see well enough(Eccl. 12:1-7, esp. 3) to make it worth him buying any new material.  And with that admission, I was shocked again.  He later told me he could not read the song book at church, which was not an issue for any of the old songs that he had memorized, but when they sang a newer song, he couldn’t sing it because he could read his song book.  He loved to sing, in or out of church, so I’m sure that hurt.

Now

All that is left now is memories.  Dad was not perfect.  But he was my dad.  If you could ask him, I’m sure he would tell that if he had it to do over again, he would have done a lot of things differently.  Who among us wouldn’t say the same thing?  But one thing he would definitely not change was his love for God’s word.  You could say that I come by it honest, and I’m sure that’s true.  My favorite thing to do in life is sit down and read my Bible and think about how amazing God is.  Think about all the amazing things He created.  Think about all the amazing things He has done through the course of time . . . for us, His greatest creation . . . the only part of His creation that was made in His image(Gen. 1:26).  How can we not tell others about Him?  How can we not show others Him living in us?  No, they might not understand it, but we can explain that to others.  Let’s make sure that is how we are living our lives . . . like He is right there with us . . . because He is.