{"id":841,"date":"2011-06-17T10:46:40","date_gmt":"2011-06-17T14:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=841"},"modified":"2011-06-16T23:12:22","modified_gmt":"2011-06-17T03:12:22","slug":"my-dad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/06\/my-dad.html","title":{"rendered":"My dad"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>My father was not allowed to leave the house without me. \u00a0That was my rule–not his. \u00a0Sure, he could go to work; but after that, I would pile into his mini-Crosley car whenever he attempted to leave the house. \u00a0I didn’t always get my way; but it wasn’t my fault.<\/p>\n

My mother once said that I got a lot more ice cream and Coke than the other children because I wanted to be with my father all the time. \u00a0As my father was dying, the rest of the family who lived in town hovered around his bedside. \u00a0Yet, they concluded that Daddy wouldn’t die until I could travel the eight hours required to get there–and he didn’t.<\/p>\n

As much as I loved my dad, I also knew that it was wisdom to fear him. \u00a0He was much bigger than me and he required obedience and respect. \u00a0He earned both. \u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

He could make anything. \u00a0Before he died, he built my mother her dream house. \u00a0It was two stories; and except for the inside finish work,\u00a0he build all of it himself. \u00a0He also made our first set of water skis. \u00a0As my brother approached his teenage years, Dad decided that skiing would be a good family sport that we could all enjoy. \u00a0He had a small fishing boat. \u00a0Because we are all small in statue, he calculated that this boat could pull us fast enough to lift us from the water. \u00a0He was right.<\/p>\n

Daddy found a friend who owned a pair of skis. \u00a0After examining them, he worked for several weeks to fashion and mold the wood into skis. \u00a0The next six or seven years were spent on various rivers and lakes skiing. \u00a0My brother because a champion skier. \u00a0I didn’t like to fall. \u00a0Therefore, I did the fancy, skiing that required little or no risk, while my brother did the real hard work of making me look good.<\/p>\n

Whatever my father did, he threw himself into it with his whole body, mind and soul. \u00a0That included his relationship with the Lord. \u00a0He was about fifty years old before he truly came to know the Lord. \u00a0Even though we attended church multiple times each week, Dad didn’t have a vital relationship until one day as he was driving home from a wholesale warehouse. \u00a0He stopped his Volkswagen Beatle at a red light, put his head on the steering wheel and tearfully surrendered to his Heavenly Father as the complete Lord of his life.<\/p>\n

From that moment, Daddy wanted to tell everyone about Jesus. \u00a0He was one of those weirdos who has Jesus quotes painted all over his car. \u00a0He shared his faith with everyone. \u00a0If people rejected him, he would laugh and say, “I could be wrong about going to heaven when I die. \u00a0Possibly, it might be like you say. \u00a0When we die, there could be nothing out there. \u00a0But even if I am wrong, I’ve lost nothing. Because I’m having a wonderful life. \u00a0You, on the other hand, are totally miserable; and if I’m right, you are going to die and go to hell. \u00a0I think the odds are on my side, don’t you?”<\/p>\n

At my father’s funeral, his pastor told the audience a story the family had not heard. \u00a0When his pastor was a young man in the Navy, Daddy would come up to the bus stop where the workers would congregate to enter the Naval Shipyard. \u00a0Many mornings, Daddy would approach the group of men clustered on the side walk, shouting, “Good news! \u00a0Good news!”<\/p>\n

There are always a new man who was there and he would ask, “What is it?”<\/p>\n

Raising his hands into the air, Daddy would declare, “Jesus loves you and he died for your sins. \u00a0All you need to do is accept his love and you will be saved.”<\/p>\n

His pastor said, “I could never forget what he said. \u00a0I carried that message all day, every day. \u00a0Finally, I surrendered to that good news and I came to take the Lord as my Savior.”<\/p>\n

The heritage my father left me made it easy for me to understand a loving heavenly Father who delighted in me. \u00a0One who wanted me to have the best of everything. \u00a0I knew my heavenly Father would disciple me, when needed but with grief and fairness. \u00a0I can understand a tough, tender, passionately forgiving \u00a0Father who freely poured his love out on a silly child who wants to go anywhere, as long as my heavenly Father is going with me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My father was not allowed to leave the house without me. \u00a0That was my rule–not his. \u00a0Sure, he could go to work; but after that, I would pile into his mini-Crosley car whenever he attempted to leave the house. \u00a0I didn’t always get my way; but it wasn’t my fault. My mother once said that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,40,159,10,16,8,85,12],"tags":[21,688,696,14,699,711,160,703,701,694,57,692,6,700],"class_list":["post-841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-faith","category-fathers-day","category-inspirational","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-prayer-2","category-religion","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-death-and-dying","tag-faith","tag-fathers-day","tag-fathers-love","tag-humor","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-prayer","tag-religion","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nMy dad - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/06\/my-dad.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My dad - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My father was not allowed to leave the house without me. \u00a0That was my rule–not his. \u00a0Sure, he could go to work; but after that, I would pile into his mini-Crosley car whenever he attempted to leave the house. \u00a0I didn’t always get my way; but it wasn’t my fault. 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