My dad was a man who could fix anything; it was always amazing to me how much stuff he knew how to do.

My dad was a man who could fix anything; it was always amazing to me how much stuff he knew how to do. I can remember numerous times when something would break down around the house or most any place and he would just fix it, you would rarely see him call a repair man. If the dishwasher was broken or some other appliance he would fix it or replace it.  He could install most anything, ovens, stove tops, washer & dyers, toilets, fans, lights, counter tops, cabinets the list goes on and on. I have seen him build an entire home form the foundation up. His knowledge didn’t stop with home construction, he was a gifted mechanic he built some cars from the frame up and customized a lot of others. My dad was a great landscaper, planting most anything you could imagine, making fences of most any type and able to transform any yard into a thing of beauty. He was well-educated had a firm grasp of the English language and I don’t ever remember seeing him scared in any situation. He was the kind of man who when life knocked him down and took most of his earthly possessions he just got back up, brushed himself off and got back into the race. I have in the past and will always admire my dad’s skills, he was a one of a kind craftsmen and I don’t believe there was anything or any situation he couldn’t handle. I love my dad, I will always love him and can’t wait to see him again when I get to heaven.

I wasn’t always the best son and for a long time I didn’t talk with my dad, I was angry with him for a long time and held things against him that I should never have. The bible says in Exodus 20:12 “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”,  you see I wasn’t following Gods law and that is what our enemy wants us to do, not follow Gods plan but our own.  I did plenty of things to grieve my dad when I lived with him but he always forgave me and tried his best to guide me into adulthood. When I moved away from my dad and got out on my own I would get angry with him for not calling me or when I called he didn’t seem to have time to talk to me so that got me more angry. I would think to myself, how dare he not care or want to see me, I felt like I had the worse family on the planet and that we all didn’t love each other at all and I blamed him for that but you see it wasn’t him it was me all along. In February of 2010 I returned to the lord, I repented of my sins got on my knees and begged Jesus Christ to come into my heart and change me into a new creature. I have been born again and I rejoice in my salvation. I thank the lord for opening my eyes and letting me see that it was me all along that was the problem. He put it on my heart to call my dad and ask him to forgive his ungrateful son for being so prideful and disobedient and of course like he always did he not only forgave me but asked for my forgiveness as well. It is so easy in life to point the finger at someone else and to focus on all their short comings but the bible say in Mathew 7:5 “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” I now go through life trying to please God first, and I always look at myself first and remember that I am just a sinner saved by grace and nothing more. A great pastor friend of mine once said this to me THINK before you speak which is an acronym so before I say something about someone or to someone I think is it True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind and if it is not all of these things then I don’t say it. I think we would have a lot less to say about each other if we went by this rule.  

I thank God that I was able to talk to my dad before he passed away, he told me that he believed that Jesus was the only way to heaven and that he was confident that he was saved and on his way there. Isn’t it a blessing that we all can know for sure that we are on our way to heaven? The last words I spoke to my father were “I love you” and I thank Jesus for that. The bible says in John 3:16   For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I am not anyone special but I am so grateful that I am a “whosoever” just like my dad. In 1^st John 5:13 the bible says “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” It is a great comfort to me to know that my dad believed this and that I will see him again when I get to heaven.   

I have a vivid memory from my youth that comes to mind, It was the heart of winter and very cold outside, me and my dad had just settled down for a good night’s rest and I remember on that night sleeping very well and feeling very nice and warm but then I was awoken by my dad, he just walked into my room and in a normal calm voice said, Jim we got a fire. I jumped up and immediately understood why I felt so warm and cozy; our apartment building was on fire the entire apartment was filled with smoke! I was in a panic state, my heart was pounding so fast, I got dressed as fast as I could forgetting that it was the middle of winter and extremely cold outside I was ready to go or at least I thought I was, I ran into my Fathers room, he was just getting his shirt and pants on, not moving any faster than any other day just kind of going through his normal routine, I thought to myself what’s with him doesn’t he understand our home is burning down! He looked over at me and said “you should grab a coat and some shoes, it’s cold outside” I looked down at my feet I only had socks no shoes and only had a short sleeve shirt on, I ran back to my room and grabbed my shoes, I frantically put them on, I grabbed my winter jacket and through it on in a flash the room was getting filled with smoke a lot more now, the lights were dim from all of the smoke it was getting hard to breath. I ran back to my father’s room, he was still sitting on his bed, just putting on his shoes. I thought to myself, is this guy crazy or something, we are going to burn alive up here on the third floor, my heart was racing my thoughts were scattered, I thought to myself maybe I should jump off the balcony. Then my dad, still getting ready said, go ahead down the stairs I will be down in a minute, I said okay and started for the door leading to the hallway of the apartment building, the closer to the door the hotter and smoker it got. Forsaking all I was taught in fire safety class I just opened the door without feeling it first and was stunned at what I saw you see unknown to me at the time but reveled to me a few days after the fire was that fact that someone had started this fire by pouring fuel oil all over the stairs and igniting the fuel, the flames were shooting up to the third story stair well which was the top of our building where we lived, the heat was enormous and the air was violently sucked right out of my lungs, you couldn’t breathe even if you tried with all your might.

I turned back into my apartment and looked at the balcony, the idea of jumping off it down to the hard icy ground three stories below looked pretty good to me for sure now, I ran to my dad’s room, the rooms were filled with smoke, breathing nearly impossible now and there was my father just putting on his jacket as calm as could be. I was terrified and couldn’t speak, I looked at him and tried to speak but couldn’t muster a syllable he looked me in the eye and said “I know” Then he said “ We are walking out of here down the stairs”  I said dad the fire is all over the stairs we can’t go that way, we have to jump, he said “son just hold on to my jacket, I will pull you through the flames” I couldn’t speak, I just followed him out the door into that flame filled hallway. He started for the stairs on the left but the flames were to strong, I said “I can’t breathe dad” and I couldn’t it was impossible to do, he said “Grab hold of the back of my jacket and whatever you do don’t let go” He turned to the right and headed toward the stairs that were on that side of the building his pace now was picking up, I knew now that he could tell we were in trouble, big trouble! I cried out, I can’t breathe, he said “just hold on we are going to make it down”. We got to the first set of stairs the heat was intense the smoke so thick you could only see a foot in front of your face, the hand rails burned my hand as I held on with one hand on them and the other firmly grasped to me dads coat, we made to the second floor the flames were all around us I kept crying out” I can’t breathe”, and I couldn’t. My dad had started running by now and was pulling me along through the fire as we made it to the top of the second floor the ceiling started to cave in stuff was falling all around I remember the roaring of the flames and then all of a sudden we burst through the door that led outside, we fell to the ground gagging for air not more than a few second had passed and my father looked me in the eye, asked me if I was okay, he looked me over for burns, I said “I couldn’t breathe in their dad, I thought I was going to fall down and die”. My father then said to me, “Son if you would have fallen down I would have carried you out” and he hugged me and kissed me and told me he loved me. I will never forget that night, I feel that my dad saved my life then and I still do today. I am also confident that when my father passed away Jesus was there waiting for him saying, grab hold and I will pull you through the flames, and if you are too weak to make it I will carry you through.

I thank God for the father he gave me and will honor him the rest of my days here on earth, wait for me dad by the gate, I will be there soon and we will rejoice!

It’s been almost three years since I wrote this and I can still remember the grief I felt at his funeral. My brothers and I all flew back to Michigan where we grew up and were raised, my dad still lived there. It rained the entire morning before we had his service but right after the service the rain stopped and the sun came out. Talking with a lot of folks that came to pay their respects to my dad I found out so much about him I didn’t know. He had helped my brother-in-law learn to be a general contractor he gave him a career that would last him a life time, something I had wanted from my dad all along. I asked him why he taught you and not me, he said to me I asked him too and after a little bit of hounding him he did. Then I thought to myself, I never went to my dad and asked him to teach me anything I sure gave him a headache with my behavior but I never did ask him, dad will you teach me your trade? There were so many other people who my dad helped out by teaching them things or fixing things for them and you see I missed out on all of that by not forgiving him. I really didn’t know my dad very well because I had this wall that I built up between us of bitterness and in the end I was the one that lost out.

If your dad is alive today, tell him you love him! Even if you have issues between one another just forgive him, honor him and tell him you love him. If your dad is still here with you get to know him better, ask him about himself, have him teach you something that he is good at. Spend time with your dad and glean as much from him as you can. Life is short and before you know if he won’t be around anymore so don’t let this Father’s day go by with a wall between your dad and you break down that wall and let him know that you love him.