...so Undeserving

I have a dad. A very good one I think, but sometimes I feel very guilty because I have a dad.

When I was very little I remember mom holding me very close and telling me 7 children were fatherless. In an instant a man from our church was with His Savior. I’ll never forget the tears of children so close to my age mourning their father. The little ones who don’t remember their dad now and boys who grew into men without their father.

I remember that long year where the children of missionary hostages Martin and Gracia Burnham celebrated every birthday and holiday without their parents. When the year was over their mom came home, but the children celebrate every birthday now without their dad.

Just the other week my cousin got married. Her little brother walked her down the aisle and at the front burned a candle in memory of her father. My uncle gave his blessed on the marriage before he died only months earlier. The marriage was heartily supported by her father, but he was not there to walk his daughter down the aisle, nor will my uncle be there when his other two daughters wed.

Some of the children in the youth group don’t have a dad or maybe the man their mom is marrying is the one they are supposed to call dad. To them dad is the man they visit on the weekends or it’s the man who they were told was once their dad, but now will have nothing to do with them.

My dad is the one who holds me close and tells me how good it is to have me home. It’s my dad who takes me out to eat just because. Dad is the one who sees his business as not just a occupation but a ministry. Dad always has fought hard to raise us kids to the best he could for the Lord. House cleaning may not be dad’s first choice but pretty often he can be found doing some vacuuming. I was taught by dad how to drive the old farm truck across the fields and than how to drive boat of a car down the interstate at speeds that were well quite exceeding…

I do not why I have blessed with such a gem of a father. It could be tempting at times to disagree on a issue, maybe ignore the needed advice, but it would be a awful crime. Should I really complain about things so little when I have so much?

I am so grateful today I can wish my dad a Happy Birthday…a man who has taught me so much about life. I don't deserve it, but I can be grateful.

Our family a few hours after dad officially was father to 6 children...yes the baby is me.