Wings Of Light

It is a few weeks before father’s day and I sit here reflecting about my father. I would like to share with you about my father and my relationship with my him.

My dad was a tall man who walked with a limp as long as I can ever remember. He worked for Coca Cola Company for many years repairing coke machines. When I was a young girl he would come home late at night from work and I would crawl up in his lap. He would put his arms around me and give me butterfly kisses. I knew he loved me very much. My father was a very gentle man full of joy. He had many friends. He was a man of honesty and integrity who loved his family.

One of my favorite childhood memories is getting to go to Quick Trip on Sunday afternoon to rent a television and buy ice cream. As soon as we would walk in he would start waving his cane around to the man behind the counter joking and giving him trouble. I don’t think there was ever a man there my dad didn’t know. After spending a long time visiting we would return home to watch Bonanza and eat ice cream as a family.     I can remember begging my dad to go and listen to me sing at the mall one Christmas season. Even though he didn’t really want to go he did. That night he fell and broke his leg just beneath an old injury. I watched the ambulance take him away on a stretcher. He returned home weeks later to live in a body cast in our living room. Our lives were never the same. That Christmas my sister Shelle and I crawled past the bed my father was in, to see what was under the Christmas tree for us. We always had a present unwrapped from Santa. And out of no where was my fathers voice “who is that!” We got up screaming and ran back to our bedroom laughing. My father had a way of finding joy in a very difficult situation.

From that point on my relationship with my dad changed. Because of his injury he was forced to retire early and stay home with my sisters and I who were the youngest of six children. He cooked for our family, took us to school and picked us up. I got to spend time with him that I would not have.

I came to a point in my life when I had an illness. This was a very difficult time but my dad was there for me. It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. As I was recovering he poured his love on me by encouraging me. He took me to skating lessons and watched me compete. He took me to eat after school with my sister and our friends.

I had the privilege of spending time with my dad and get to know him. He was my best friend. After he gave me away to be married he remained my dearest friend. My father took my husband under his wing and taught him many things. He taught him how to wire a house, and helped him remodel our home. He was limited on what he could physically do but he seemed to forget that. I remember coming home one afternoon and looking up and there was my dad standing in the trusses of the house we were remodeling. He was trying to fix something. I couldn’t believe it and I demanded he come down.

When I had my three little girls my dad was there waiting first in line to make sure we were all ok. These were some of the best years. My sister and I would meet him and my mother for lunch. Or he would just come by and help me with whatever needed done. These are memories I cherish. My father went to be with the Lord after suffering from cancer for a year. I was twenty five at the time. Yes it was very difficult during the next several years I had lost my first really best friend. Now seventeen years have gone by since my father left this world to live with our Heavenly Father. My memories of him are as if it were yesterday. For that I am truly grateful.                         As I sit here and reflect on my relationship with my father I can compare it to my relationship with my Heavenly Father, My creator. Just as my dad loved me, provided for my needs, and later became my dearest friend. I now know my Heavenly Father as my true friend and provider. He is the love of my life. He pours His love on me every day. I would like to share with you about how much He loves me and you.

Our Father God loves all of us so much. He created us. He wants us to know Him. He desires a relationship with us. But we have sin in our lives. And sin separates us from God. It says in Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short in the glory of God.” Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He came up with a plan. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to live on this earth. Jesus went through all the temptations we go through. But He did not sin. He turned to His Father for guidance and obeyed His Father. He lived the perfect life. Jesus was beat and nailed to the cross. He died on the cross. After three days He rose from the dead. He is alive. He ascended into Heaven where He sits at the right hand of our Heavenly Father. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16. God loves us so much that He has a free gift for us. We can do nothing to earn it, it is a gift. That is the promise of eternal life, and a life of knowing our Heavenly Father through Jesus. It is so simple, all we have to do is admit that we have sin in our life we are not perfect and not capable of being perfect. Ask Jesus to forgive us of our sin and surrender our life to Him. Ask Jesus to come into your heart. If you do this He will live in you. The Holy Spirit will be with you always teaching, and leading you in your life. You will have the promise eternal life in Heaven with our Heavenly Father and the promise of a wonderful relationship with God here on earth. My earthly Father knew Jesus and loved Jesus. He is living with Him now in Heaven.

I accepted Jesus as my savior thirty one years ago. He is the Lord of my life. Yes there have been times in my life that I have not been obedient but He never left me. He always provides for me and continues to love me. The past seven years I have learned to put my Heavenly Father first in my life. He is the love of my life. He has taken me on a wonderful journey. I have learned to spend time with Him in Worship, Prayer, and seeking Him in His Word the Bible every day. He is the living Word, the truth. He communicates to me. I am learning listen to Him and do what He tells me to do and not what I want to do. I also spend time with Him through fellowship and serving in our Church. All I can say is our creator is real and He loves me so much.

I am so grateful for the years I got to spend with my earthly father and really know him. He was such a wonderful dad and friend. Now I am spending time getting to know my Heavenly Father in a way I never knew before. Because I am choosing to spend time with Him and get to know Him. He is pouring His blessings on me in a way I never would have imagined. So as I reflect on Fathers day this year I turn to my Heavenly Father and rejoice in His everlasting love. I am truly Rejoicing on Fathers Day!

“Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6