I know I said I'd be posting about Aidan's baseball today, but I can't let this day pass without sharing my dad's legacy with you.
My dad was a very passionate man and he was passionate about many things: Airplanes, his Corvette, playing basketball, his wife, his children, to name a few. But, the one thing he was most passionate about was ministering to the hurting, broken, down-trodden and sick.
In any given situation-church, work, social gatherings, a walk in the park-he was constantly looking for that one person who needed a personal touch. He didn't care if the person was someone he knew well or a complete stranger. He would do whatever he could to meet that person's need, whether it be financial, physical, emotional or spiritual. He wore his heart on his sleeve and there was never any doubt how deeply he was moved by those in need. His deepest desire was show the love of God, and His compassion and mercy to anyone and everyone who crossed his path. The stories are too numerous to recount, or even count, of his outreach to the world, but I will share one with you.
I remember one Mother’s Day when I was around six years old, we saw a man in a wheel chair selling flowers on a street corner. My dad pulled the car over and went to buy flowers for my mom. As the man leaned over to get the flowers he fell out of his wheel chair. My dad gently and lovingly helped him back in to his chair and then came back to the car with tears literally streaming down his face. His compassion and pain for the man in the wheelchair is my earliest recollection of his heart for the hurting and is an image that shall never leave my mind. I knew on that day my dad was someone very special.
He lived much of his adult life bothered that he'd never fulfilled his calling to be a full-time missionary and he searched for ways to make it happen even up until a year before he died. What he may have never realized while on earth is that he was a missionary in the truest since of the word and I have no doubt he heard those words we all long for when he entered heaven, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
My heart's desire is to be a woman after God's own heart, but also a woman after my dad's heart. That I would carry on the legacy he has set before me of reaching out to those who are "the least of these" in the world. I can think of no greater honor than to be told, "You remind me of your dad."
3 comments:
Lori - This is beautiful! I can understand the missionary thing. I deal with that, but know God is working out His plan in my life in ways I didn't expect. I'm encouraged by your post. :)
This is very nice. Your Dad was great and I miss him, too.
I saw those same qualities in him when they came down for Andrew's funeral. You could clearly see his compassion for everyone in that situation. What an incredible legacy.
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