The Words I Said

On March 10th, we had an incredible celebration of my dad's life, where I was privileged to speak (also my dear friend, Sha, turned a year older!).  A few people have asked to have a copy of what was said, so I decided to post it here. And, truthfully, this seems the best weekend to post it.  This weekend is the greatest celebration of all, and the only reason I was able to speak with absolute confidence (through tears, naturally) at my dad's service. It is my sincere hope that the words I said will give you a small glimpse of who my daddy and my Daddy are.

My dad was a great dad. He taught us well. He loved us.  He was generous. He was a provider and a fighter. He was my daddy, and he was wonderful. I can’t imagine living life without him – to help guide and love me.  My dad ran hard – spiritually and physically.  He loved the Lord and my mommy and my brothers and me. He understood the importance of working hard at all things.  He kept a cool head when I was an irrational, silly girl, and spoke truth to my heart. I think I took for granted that I could just pick up and call him whenever I needed him – at work or home or out for a run.  

So I am sad.  We are sad.  Our hearts are broken like never before. Our lives are changed forever.  Nothing will be the same. It is confusing and hard. 

But there is a greater joy.  There is an overwhelming hope.  My dad believed in and knew Jesus.  He believed and professed that He came to this earth, God in the flesh, lived a perfect life, and sacrificed His own life so we could know Him forever. My dad knew that Jesus was who He said He was.  My dad also held onto the hope that this God-man conquered death, and that meant that he could be in Heaven in the presence of his Savior, fully basking in His goodness and glory for all eternity. And this hope drove him. 

And so we hold on to this same hope.  We know and profess that God is good – in all circumstances, at all times. This Jesus who we love, who we know holds our broken hearts so tightly in His arms, suffered a deeper loss than we could ever know.  He suffered the infinite loss of His Daddy on the cross so that the rest of the world would have the chance to spend forever with His father.  There is no one more worthy of holding our hearts in this time.  

The day he died, I was driving to a friend’s and, you know, crying…a lot.  But I had this picture of my dad, in Heaven, shouting excitedly and fervently – “It is so much more than we could have imagined.  Christ is MORE.  He is so much more!  Tell more people! They need to know.  Tell more!” So this is what I intend to do. And I hope if you don’t know this perfect Jesus, if you haven’t trusted Him with your life, you won’t hesitate to ask one of us. It would truly bring us great joy to talk about our dad’s best friend, deepest love, and Father with you. 

And we rejoice.  Though we mourn, we rejoice and praise God that this life is a vapor in comparison to eternity, where we will dance and sing with our dad again in perfect relationship without any tears or sadness.  We rejoice that my dad’s faith is now his sight.