DADDY

Today is Good Friday. I was curious and wanted to know why today would be considered "good", since it was celebrated as the day our Lord Jesus was crucified. After looking it up on line... and we know EVERYTHING we find on line is ABSOLUTELY TRUE (yeaaaaaaah...), I have come to a somewhat conclusion that God's people always celebrated Friday as a holy/feast day. Since Friday marked the anniversary of Christ's death, it came to be called the Great or the Holy or the "Good Friday." It is also true, as Christians know, that unless our Lord Jesus died, God's purpose could not be fulfilled...meaning our redemption and salvation = eternal life. I would say that is Good!

Yes, this is a very good day. But to me...this Saturday is a day of mourning. The Saturday before Easter - the day Christians celebrate as Christ's resurrection day, is the day I mourn for the death of my dad. Though my dad actually died on March 26th (a Saturday), it was the Saturday before Easter. Therefore, I will always remember the Saturday before Easter as a day of mourning for me.

I loved my dad. He was a character. He had this huge smile, sparkling eyes, loved to tease, loved big band music, had false teeth he would take out at night (we used to tease him about it), he loved jump suites - you know...the kind old men think are soooo comfortable!!! (Elvis must have thought so too!), he wore one of those terrible pocket protectors that men wore in the 1950's (until the 1990's I think - YUK!), loved to bowl, and could be the life of a party. My dad would never offer advice unless you would ask him for it. But if you did ask him for advice and you didn't take it, and things didn't work out...you best not come back complaining...he would just ignore you and say you should have taken his advise. He never spoke ugly of others, LOVED Thanksgiving, was fair minded and would listen to your side of an opinion or request even if he didn't agree - before making a decision. He was content with his work, his home and what he had. He never wanted in excess, but had a contented heart. My dad was a man of his word. He was not perfect, had many flaws, but was loved by his family and loved his family even more.

On these Saturdays before Easter, I remember all these things about my dad. Emotions flow no matter how many years he has been gone. I don't go to the grave site...he's not there. I do know he's in my heart. But these Saturdays are a day of grief for me. An emotional time. Though I must say, even though they are emotional, they become sweeter as the years pass. Sweeter in the memories of things like when I was young and I was standing on his feet at my Uncle Raymond's house, dancing with him to some big band music playing on a record (that's how long ago it was - there were records!). Sweet in memories like the look of pride on his face as my mom came home one day and walked into our bedroom and discovered a new Singer sewing machine he bought her (she still has it). Sweet in memories like the day he walked me down the aisle to give me away to marry Jimmy. Sweet, sweet memories.

All this makes me think about the feelings and memories Mary, the mother of Jesus, the other Mary, and Jesus' friends must have been feeling the day after our Lord was crucified. They had just witnessed a horrific death of their most beloved. And Jesus had willingly given himself up to suffer this death - and for what --not only them, but the very ones who were crucifying him. What kind of feelings must they have been feeling that day and the day after? That next day, how devastated his loved ones must have felt and how they too must have been remembering all the wonderful things he said and did. They must have thought about the sparkle in his eyes, the compassion he had for the hungry (5000), the love he had for children (whom he called to himself), the tender heart for the young couple who ran out of wine at their wedding feast, the deep love for his friends like his buddy Lazarus and the sick who needed healing like the blind man and the leper. What an example of perfect obedience to His heavenly Father they had for such a short time.

We all mourn at some time at the loss of a loved one. Perhaps to death, or even a friendship or a pet, a job we love or a hometown or neighborhood we lived and raised our children in. Perhaps a church family we grew up in or raised our family in, worshiped all our lives in. We mourn having to leave an organization we been a part of for so many years that we've bonded with special friends. We all mourn losses at different times.

But though I mourn my dad, I CAN be thankful today. I am thankful for memories. Though we all have some memories that are not always pleasant, we have many that bring us great joy (even in our tears). Memories of our families, memories of our friends, memories of experiences that have surprised us, memories that confirm our Lords great care for us in certain circumstances, memories of our Lord's care for those we love, and memories of the promises our Lord makes to us. Though some circumstances we remember were tough, as we are thankful for God's provision, those memories too, become sweeter as time passes and even those memories can give us great joy, if for no other reason than it was by God's grace we made it through.

So today, I 'm thinking sweet, sweet memories of Daddy.