Remembering Dad

February 13 is my Dad's birthday.  It is his 87th.  He has spent the last twelve of them in heaven.  He lived all but two of his 75 years here on earth as a non-believer.  I don't have a lot of great memories of my dad. He was what Robert Lewis calls and "absent" dad, in his Men's Fraternity materials.  This Saturday, the title of the session of the Men's Fraternity I'm attending is "Remembering Dad."  Lewis tells us that in 1960, 82.5% of American children lived in families where the biological father was "present."  In 2,000 that number was 60%.  That means then, and more so now, many of us grew up or are growing up with "absent" dads.  My Dad was actually part of the biological family, but because of his work was absent most of the time.  When he was home, he didn't do that much with us.  While many of my memories of Dad are hard, the last years of my Dad's life, left me with many good memories, particularly good memories of him interacting with our daughters.  One of the things I've realized about Dad is that while I would change many things about my time of growing up with him (or mostly without him), he did the best he could as a dad.  His dad hadn't been there for him (biologically present, but absent due to work), and his dad's dad was an ornery cuss, by the accounts I've heard.  The absence of Jesus in his life for most of his life, also left him without the spiritual Father who could have made so much difference.  Thankfully, that turned around, and my daughters have only fond memories of "Papa Clyde."  On this day, I honor my Dad for being a man of integrity, a man who was always as good as his word, who worked hard, and taught us to give an honest day's work for an honest day's pay.  I honor him because he finally submitted his will to God's will near the end of his life, realizing that he couldn't ultimately make it on his own. 

I thank God today, for being the Heavenly Father I could depend on when my earthly dad was either absent or not being the dad I needed, and for providing the kind of role model that is worthy of following 24/7.  I thank Him, too, for providing Clyde Marshall to be my earthly dad.  With all his short-coming's he loved us, and provided for us the best he could, and that's a blessing many folks never have the opportunity to know.  Happy Birthday, Dad! 

Comments

[Shawn]

Incredible, Chris.

That's quite wonderful.