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(Photo taken on Dad and Mother's 60th Wedding Anniversary, November 24, 2005)June 9, 2009: Happy Birthday, Dad!
Dad, it is hard to believe that you have been gone for almost 3 years now. In one sense the time has flown; in another it seems to have stood still. Today would have been your 88th birthday! Mother celebrated her 88th just a few weeks ago. We got to see her that night after driving from Springfield the day after I got back from Europe. Where do the years go?
I remember you commenting about our children, “Enjoy them while you can because they grow up so fast!” You were right….I blinked and they are now almost 34 and 24!
As I reminisce today, here are a few of my thoughts about you:
Although you were not always a man of many words, when you spoke what you said had meaning. You also collected words which you put into articles or files. One such set of words is on the inside of one of the Bibles you had, which I am blessed to have:
“Steadfast Heart”
I’ve dreamed many dreams that never come true…I’ve seen them vanish at dawn…But enough of my dreams have come true, thank God—To make me want to dream on.
I’ve prayed many prayers when no answer came…Though I waited patiently and long…But answers have come to enough of my prayer, thank God—To make me want to pray on.
I’ve trusted many a friend who failed me. And left me to weep all alone…But enough of my friends have been true blue, thank God—To make me want to trust on.
I’ve sown many seeds that fell by the way...For the birds of the air to feed on…But I’ve held many golden sheaves in my hands, thank God—To make me want to sow on.
I’ve drunk the cup of disappointment and pain….I’ve gone many days without song…But I’ve sipped enough nectar from the roses of life, thank God—To make me want to live on.
—unknown
Mother collected many of your sayings in a book she called “Gems, A Collection of Poems, Articles, Quotes, Sermon Outlines, Misc . by Arne Thomassen.” I like several of your quotes that deal with hope.
“Hope is a view of the future that gives purpose to every day events and provides a basis for making the decisions that we confront daily.” (Ministers Manual, 1980, p. 102 by C. Ellis Nelson)
“Christian hope rests on God, not on man or luck or fate. And it is a dynamic, transforming quality, reaching forwards from the present with its fears and frustrations to a future bright with the promises of a faithful God.” --unknown
C.E.B. Cranfield wrote: “The most striking characteristic that distinguished the early Christians from their pagan neighbors was their HOPE. Unlike their pagan neighbors, the early Christians were man of HOPE, who could look steadfastly into the future without fear, not with mere resignation, but with eager anticipation.”
Your words, your actions, your life demonstrated hope. You showed your family that your hope was in God. Although you never had much money, you were rich! You were rich in hope in God. You passed that hope on to your family and that has sustained us.
That is what I want to pass on to my family and my world. I think of one of my favorite scriptures: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13 NIV).
Well, 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that along with faith and love, HOPE abides or lives forever! We have the hope of seeing Jesus one of these days, but also the hope of seeing you again. So, only the Lord knows how long that will be. But until then, we will keep our hope alive in the One who gives us hope.
Let me leave you with a song that I know you know…..and by now you would have met the author, Norman J. Clayton. I remember you taking me to a Christian Business Men’s Committee (CBMC) meeting when I was a boy to hear Norman Clayton in person. I’ll never forget him telling how that as a boy, he lost a finger in an accident, but a drunken doctor sowed it back on and therefore he had his finger! (That was years before reattachments became common place!). Clayton wrote these great lyrics in which he declared: “My Hope is in the Lord” (words and music by Norman J. Clayton © 1945)
My hope is in the Lord
Who gave Himself for me
And paid the price
Of all my sin at Calvary.
Chorus
For me He died;
For me He lives;
And everlasting life
And light He freely gives.
No merit of my own
His anger to suppress.
My only hope is found
In Jesus' righteousness.
And now for me He stands
Before the Father's throne.
He shows His wounded hands
And names me as His own.
His grace has planned it all;
'Tis mine but to believe
And recognize His work of love
And Christ receive.
So, dad, my hope is in the Lord! We’ll keep that hope alive as we wait for His return!
Dad, it is hard to believe that you have been gone for almost 3 years now. In one sense the time has flown; in another it seems to have stood still. Today would have been your 88th birthday! Mother celebrated her 88th just a few weeks ago. We got to see her that night after driving from Springfield the day after I got back from Europe. Where do the years go?
I remember you commenting about our children, “Enjoy them while you can because they grow up so fast!” You were right….I blinked and they are now almost 34 and 24!
As I reminisce today, here are a few of my thoughts about you:
Although you were not always a man of many words, when you spoke what you said had meaning. You also collected words which you put into articles or files. One such set of words is on the inside of one of the Bibles you had, which I am blessed to have:
“Steadfast Heart”
I’ve dreamed many dreams that never come true…I’ve seen them vanish at dawn…But enough of my dreams have come true, thank God—To make me want to dream on.
I’ve prayed many prayers when no answer came…Though I waited patiently and long…But answers have come to enough of my prayer, thank God—To make me want to pray on.
I’ve trusted many a friend who failed me. And left me to weep all alone…But enough of my friends have been true blue, thank God—To make me want to trust on.
I’ve sown many seeds that fell by the way...For the birds of the air to feed on…But I’ve held many golden sheaves in my hands, thank God—To make me want to sow on.
I’ve drunk the cup of disappointment and pain….I’ve gone many days without song…But I’ve sipped enough nectar from the roses of life, thank God—To make me want to live on.
—unknown
Mother collected many of your sayings in a book she called “Gems, A Collection of Poems, Articles, Quotes, Sermon Outlines, Misc . by Arne Thomassen.” I like several of your quotes that deal with hope.
“Hope is a view of the future that gives purpose to every day events and provides a basis for making the decisions that we confront daily.” (Ministers Manual, 1980, p. 102 by C. Ellis Nelson)
“Christian hope rests on God, not on man or luck or fate. And it is a dynamic, transforming quality, reaching forwards from the present with its fears and frustrations to a future bright with the promises of a faithful God.” --unknown
C.E.B. Cranfield wrote: “The most striking characteristic that distinguished the early Christians from their pagan neighbors was their HOPE. Unlike their pagan neighbors, the early Christians were man of HOPE, who could look steadfastly into the future without fear, not with mere resignation, but with eager anticipation.”
Your words, your actions, your life demonstrated hope. You showed your family that your hope was in God. Although you never had much money, you were rich! You were rich in hope in God. You passed that hope on to your family and that has sustained us.
That is what I want to pass on to my family and my world. I think of one of my favorite scriptures: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13 NIV).
Well, 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that along with faith and love, HOPE abides or lives forever! We have the hope of seeing Jesus one of these days, but also the hope of seeing you again. So, only the Lord knows how long that will be. But until then, we will keep our hope alive in the One who gives us hope.
Let me leave you with a song that I know you know…..and by now you would have met the author, Norman J. Clayton. I remember you taking me to a Christian Business Men’s Committee (CBMC) meeting when I was a boy to hear Norman Clayton in person. I’ll never forget him telling how that as a boy, he lost a finger in an accident, but a drunken doctor sowed it back on and therefore he had his finger! (That was years before reattachments became common place!). Clayton wrote these great lyrics in which he declared: “My Hope is in the Lord” (words and music by Norman J. Clayton © 1945)
My hope is in the Lord
Who gave Himself for me
And paid the price
Of all my sin at Calvary.
Chorus
For me He died;
For me He lives;
And everlasting life
And light He freely gives.
No merit of my own
His anger to suppress.
My only hope is found
In Jesus' righteousness.
And now for me He stands
Before the Father's throne.
He shows His wounded hands
And names me as His own.
His grace has planned it all;
'Tis mine but to believe
And recognize His work of love
And Christ receive.
So, dad, my hope is in the Lord! We’ll keep that hope alive as we wait for His return!
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