Eleven years ago, my dad left this home for his heavenly one. If you follow my blog, I’m sure you think I’m delusional about my dad. (I might be delusional, but that’s a whole other blog post!) I do realize that he wasn’t perfect. I know that he wasn’t anything special to the world. He wasn’t a millionaire or a business tycoon. He wasn’t super popular, either. He was just, you know, a regular guy. He loved his family and lived a quiet life puttering around at home when he was off work. He liked playing his trumpet. He had a great laugh. He was really easy to talk to. He was just run-of-the-mill dad. Or so I thought.

One day, I went out into the world. I met all sorts of people. I discovered that many of those people were full of hate, anger, jealousy, and lies. Suddenly, I didn’t have a “run-of-the-mill Dad”. I had an extraordinary dad. The evil of this world stood in stark contrast to his courage, honesty and humility. I admired him for that, more than he knew.

As the years have rolled by, I’ve pondered what my life would have been like if God had taken Dad home when I was young. Oh, how harsh the world would have been! How lonely and hard my life would have become! I am so grateful that before Dad went home to Heaven, he had securely placed my hand in the hand of another wonderful man. A man who, like dad, makes the cold world disappear into foggy mist by his very presence. A man who has made me laugh when I’ve wanted to cry, lent his shoulder for my head when laughter just couldn’t overpower the tears, and held tightly to my hand in the darkest days.

On this anniversary of a devastating day, I can say that God’s grace is not just sufficient, it is abundant.

With love,