Thursday, September 3, 2009
Joy Challenge - Day Twelve - God Is Good
This is the very first picture I have of my Dad and I. I have been blessed to have him in my life for a very long time now. He has always looked, in my eyes, just as he does here - strong, protective, loving - a man of great faith and solid character.
He has always looked young for his age even as he entered his eighties. I think he has less gray hair than I do - but we'll never know because I have hidden mine. In recent months, though, illness has taken its toll. He has lost a great deal of weight and walks slowly, using a cane for support.
We went out to dinner last evening. As we sat talking the conversation turned, as it inevitably does these days, to his health. He sighed as he spoke of the difficulties involved in having dialysis three days a week - how it has changed his life. I looked across the table at him, into eyes that haven't changed in the sixty-two years I've known him, and he smiled and said, "God is good."
Yes Dad, God is good. It brings immeasurable joy to hear him say that. It encourages me to know that all those things we have learned and heard about the Lord are true. They have great meaning and value when we see them lived out in the lives of those we love and esteem.
My father has taught me much about my heavenly Father. He has given me a Godly inheritance worth more than the greatest fortune this world can offer. He has taught and modeled faith - his faith in a loving God and God's faithfulness to His children.
"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting."
I Chronicles 16:34
Blessings,
Linda