Dad
“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:” Philippians 4:11Let me tell you a little bit about my dad. Dad lived a very simple life. He loved the Black Hills of South Dakota and he enjoyed going to flea markets, rodeos, and the annual Threshing Bee. He would be out of bed by 4 or 5 A.M. each morning. He would drink his cup of coffee, read his Bible and pray. Many mornings when I got up, his Bible was still on the table opened to a passage of Scripture.
Dad was a very sensitive and emotional person. I remember his tears when a little boy had been hurt. Often when he was telling a story, his voice would become emotional and there would be tears in his eyes. He was also a very generous person. He would help single moms by giving them money, and he would help strangers in need.
Dad was human, so he was not perfect. He was content with his life because he had a forgiving and loving God. Dad’s true test of contentment came early in 2005. Dad showed us contentment as he lay on his hospital bed. He winked at his great -grandchildren and smiled as they winked back. The doctors would offer us a thread of hope, but when we asked Dad how he was, he would always reply, “Not good!” He knew, and had known for quite a while that his time on earth was coming to an end. He was at peace with his Lord. He told a granddaughter on March 12th that he was going Home. Dad would never tell any of us “Good-bye” but on March 8th he told Mom “Good-bye” several times. That is the last time she saw him.
Let me tell you about the last day my dad was with us. I walked into his room and asked the nurse what our goal was for him that day. She said that we needed to get a lot of liquid in him. Dad heard that and he drank more for breakfast than he did the whole day before. He showed me that he cared enough to try. We all went to lunch while he was asleep. When we returned at 2:30 he was breathing heavily. I knew then that my dad was about to leave us. I shed a few tears and then walked into his room and sat down beside him. I held his hand but didn’t know what to say. I finally kissed him on the forehead three times. I then saw a tear by the side of his eye. I gently wiped it away to let him know that I had seen it. My two brothers were with me and I asked my oldest brother, “Would you pray for Dad? He knows that we are here and he can hear us.” My brother prayed and then told Dad he loved him. During the prayer, Dad opened his eyes and looked at each of us. Things were quiet except for Dad’s breathing. I then told Dad, “We love you. You have been a great Dad, and a wonderful husband. We will miss you, but we know that you are going to a better place.” I then closed my eyes and prayed, “Lord, please do not let him suffer too much longer.” That was the last breath that Dad took before he was in Eternity.
Unknown to me, my sister-in-law had asked the Lord two days earlier to give me the wisdom to let my dad go. I am so thankful that we as a family were there to support Dad in this, his last change on earth.
For thirty years I dreaded and struggled with the day Dad would pass away. I never wanted to or knew how to say “good-bye” to him. It was a relief to me when we as a family decided to move my parents to Minnesota to live with my brother Delmer. I wouldn’t be there when they died. Well, God is still in control. He and Dad had other plans. I arrived at the Duluth, Minnesota Hospital on March 12th and Dad passed away on March 13th. I didn’t say good-bye to Dad that day because I knew that I would see him again when I get to Heaven. I did tell him that I love him. When I think back now, I realize that I would have missed a tremendous blessing if I had not been with my dad at his graduation to Eternity.
It has been five (now seven) years since Dad passed away and I still miss him, but I would never want to bring him back from the perfect place he is in now. Someday we will be together again for all eternity.
Death is unique to each person, as is dealing with the death of a loved one. That day, I learned how to die and I learned how to deal with the death of a loved one. Since then I have learned how to continue living after a loved one passes on to eternity. I learned that a Christian doesn’t need to fear death but take it one day at a time in faith. As my younger brother told me that day, “It is like falling asleep and waking up in a far better place.”
2 Corinthians 5:6-8 “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight) we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
“The greatest gift I ever had
Came from God; I call him Dad!”
~Author Unknown
Taken from the book, Life on the Ranch: Life Lessons I Learned on the Ranch.
(Written from the heart.)
