Someone once wrote about their Dad, and in that essay they shared thoughts of him at various stages of their own life. I believe many of us can relate to ANDalso restate these same thoughts through what was written:
“When I was 4 years old, thoughts of my Daddy was:“He can do anything.”
At 5 years old: “My Daddy knows a whole lot.”
At 6 years old: “My Daddy is smarter than your Daddy.”
At 8 years old: “My Dad doesn’t know exactly everything.”
At 10 years old: “In the olden days when my Dad grew up, things were sure different.”
At 12 years old: “Oh, well, Dad doesn’t know anything about that. He’s too old to remember his childhood.”
At 14 years old: “Don’t pay any attention to my Dad. He’s so old-fashioned!”
At 21 years old: “My Dad? Why, he’s hopelessly out-of-date.”
At 25 years old: “Dad knows a little bit about it, but then he should because he has been around so long.”
At 30 years old: “Maybe we should ask Dad what he thinks. After all, he’s had a lot of experience.”
At 35 years old: “I’m not doing a single thing until I talk to Dad.”
At 40 years old: “I wonder how Dad would handle it. He’s so wise and has a world of experience.”
At 45 years old: “My Dad knows absolutely everything!”
At 50 years old: “I really miss that man. I’d give anything if Dad were here with me so I could talk this over with him. Too bad I didn’t fully appreciate how smart he was. I could have learned a lot from him.”
And on a personal note of MY own, I was 64 years of age at the time of my Dad’s passing, and I do relate to many things said by the writer. MY thoughts of Dad come even more clear as we approach another Father’s Day.
It was July 15, 2010 when I had to take Dad to the hospital, where he would spend the remainder of his days here on Earth. His main concern, at the time, was that he forgot to wear his cap to the hospital. Butthirty days later, I had far more on my mind.
I remember, among other things, the pure coldness and utter loneliness I felt on that hot August day when arrived home from his Homegoing service. I carried flowers and other funeral items up the wheelchair ramp toward the front door of Dad and Mom’s house. I believe that slow walk up the ramp to the front door was the longest walk I had ever taken, if not the most painful.
My hands trembled as I attempted to unlock the front door. Needless to say, I missed Dad standing next to me, and I knew he would never enter this house again. As I stood there, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the last time Dad and I walked out that door together, just 35 days prior.
I was numb in feeling as I stood before the locked door. But I finally got the key in the lock and it eventually turned for me to enter the house –– alone.
Mom’s Homegoing was just eight months prior, so I was then facing total emptiness of the house where I had lived all of my life. Later that evening, I gazed at Mom and Dad’s pictures hanging on the wall. I realized for the first time that the care of my parents had now passed from my hands –– to the hands of the Lord.
In the days and weeks that followed, I recalled everything possible about my wonderful Dad. I was the third child of Orban & Opal Lloyd, therefore I was not around when they and my older siblings lived in Eldorado, Illinois.
All I know of the early days of Mom and Dad’s marriage was from what they shared. Dad had to do what he could to make a living for Mom, Don, and Darlene. When he was out of work at local grocery stores, he set out to create work for himself. For one, he opened a small walk-up hamburger stand in downtown Eldorado. There he sold hamburgers at six for 25 cents.
Before that, I’m told, Dad crafted a cart using bicycle wheels and an old orange crate filled with sawdust. With these things, he made a makeshift cart in which to store and sell ice cream throughout that small town.
My Dad could make a living doing just about anything. He began grocery work at age 16. At age 29, the family moved to another city, and there, Dad became a welder at a local foundry for the next 41 years, along with also working in a grocery store part time.
When the foundry shut down (when Dad was 70), he returned to working in grocery stores again, and there he would continue to work until his passing at age 98. One thing for certain: Dad knew how to provide for his family, regardless of the type of work he had to do.
Whenever I hear the Gospel song, “HE KNOWS HOW” –– found in the “Red Back” Church Hymnal –– I’m reminded of my Dad. I must admit that when I was very young, I really didn’t think he could do much of anything in general home building and maintenance. But now that I’m much older, and perhaps wiser, I continue to see signs of Dad’s great handiwork in this house where he and Mom lived approximately 64 years of their 73-plus years of married life.
Many of us remember seeing Robert Young play the part of ‘Jim Anderson,’ a devoted husband and father on the 1950s TV show, “Father Knows Best.” However, in real life, I was privileged to live under the same roof and be the son of a caring and faithful Christian father.
While I once doubted some of Dad’s home care abilities, I never once had doubts of him as a man who loved us all, nor of his faithfulness to and love for God. While Dad’s repair techniques may have been questioned at times, his love for God and for family was never questioned.
We, as Christians, know the work of our HEAVENLY Father. We trust the One who created us all, and understand that “HE knows best” in all things, even when all of our life seems to be bottoming out.
What does God “know how” to do for His children? The Bible is filled cover to cover of His great love for His own, and each day we continue to witness the same. Just a few things told in the Bible concerning God’s care and of His great ability include:
· “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).
· “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20).
· “And He said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God”(Luke 18:27).
And what else does our Lord “know how” and what to do, other than what was written elsewhere in God’s Word and in this featured song by James Rowe and Charles Vaughn? Vep Ellis also shared in song, “…HE will hear every time you pray, drive all of those clouds away, Turn darkest night into day, THAT’S what He can do!”
During the thirty days my Dad was hospitalized before his passing, I had the wonderful opportunity to tell him how much I loved him and appreciated everything about him, including his walk with the Lord and his Godly influence on all his family and friends.
Among many other things, I reminded Dad of the different times I’d see him at work and think, “That’s my Daddy!” Tears came to his eyes as he asked,“Really?” I answered it was true, for I was so proud of him.
With our Heavenly Father in mind, HE KNOWS how to do everything necessary for our lives! I hope you’ll remember to trust this One who REALLY understands how to solve all our problems! Without a doubt ––
“Jesus is so wonderful, I love Him more and more, Day by day I’m praising Him, and I His name adore; Light of peace of happiness is shining on my brow, JESUS keeps me happy, for He knows how.”
“He knows how, yes, He knows how; Heav’nly joys I’m having here and now! All the way to glory, I shall tell my story, JESUS keeps me happy, for HE KNOWS HOW.”
After nearly seven years, Dad’s cap still hangs on the back of the sofa, where he used to sit. Many times I’ll still look at that sofa and am reminded of when he’d sit on the edge of his seat and would laugh until tears streamed down his face as he watched on TV the antics of Barney Fife or of Mr. Kimble.
Many will be able to greet their Dad this Father’s Day, while others will not. To all fathers everywhere, I wish you a “HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!” And while my Dad cannot be here with me on this special day, I’ll be looking at pictures of him and proudly saying, “That’s my Daddy!”
–– Bill
