Monday, October 19, 2009

A Father's Legacy



Daddy with the family


Woke up this morning with Daddy on my heart. Wondering again if not having a public memorial service was the best idea. He meant so much to so many people. Yet, he was 94 years old, and so many of those who knew him were either dead or out-of-touch with my Dad in his waning years, or so I thought.

Interesting how the Lord provides encouragement when you least expect it. Logged onto my email account and there was a message from a dear friend of the family. She had forwarded some entries that had been recently posted on FaceBook, almost two years after his death.

Phrases, such as "a very great man," "loved when he would come to the school," "he's the reason I became a Christian," leaped off the page.

You see, my hero father served the Lord more than 50 years in children's ministry. During the day when you could still do so, Daddy would take his flannel graph, dummies, and other visual aids to elementary schools in Johnson County, TN and present Bible stories to hundreds of kids sitting on bleachers.

His passion was reaching children with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I was one of those children he reached.

As I scanned the FB entries, I realized that the greatest tribute we could give Daddy was in the words of those he touched. That legacy remains and will continue to serve as a memorial of his faithfulness to his Lord.

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