March | 2017 | Jesus' Precious Little Lambs

A Eulogy for my Dad

by Miss Lynn

My dad went home to Jesus on March 8th, 2017. We will miss you so much grandpa.

My dad was tough as nails. He got a root canal with no anesthesia; he worked out 3 times a week during chemo. When he had cancer, I heard him fearlessly say, “I’m gonna be fine. I’ll get better,” and I never did hear a word of doubt. His eyes didn’t even have a flicker of fear. His words of faith were so believable that I forgot to be afraid for my dad and his health. He didn’t preach much, but his life exuded the message, “fear not,” and it made its mark on me. Much of the strength of faith that I have came from watching his living example of faith, and literally “forgetting to be afraid.” I always admired how he could strike up a conversation with anybody and made friends wherever he hung out. He was not afraid to be himself, that’s for sure.

But the memory of my dad that will remain with me most is him and his love of gardens. We thought we had died and gone to the country when he moved us out to Alamo and its acreage. My dad sacrificed a lot to get us on that land, and once he did, he worked it until it produced. Farmer John, as my mom called him, could grow the tastiest green beans, tomatoes, and corn on the cob. The joy of summer gardening, being in God’s creation there, with my daddy, are some of my sweetest childhood memories. I will always remember those summer nights in the warm rosy glow of twilight, with my dad harvesting in the field as my sister and I waded waist deep in the grass and fox tails collecting ladybugs….. That is the romantic part of the story at least, but I know there was much weeding, and planting, and fertilizing, and watering, and waiting in order for that sweet mouth watering cob of corn to magically appear on my dinner plate. Unfortunately, I think my sister and I did more bug collecting and frolicking than helping. 🙂 However, our joy was the fruit of his work. My dad was a hard worker– he worked by the sweat of his brow and he was a man who was never afraid to get dirty. There is something about a man who stays close to the dirt; he stays down to earth. In Eden I imagine God himself on His knees, with his hands in the dirt, fashioning man out of the dust of the earth.

My dad came down to earth in his garden, but I think he also ascended heavenward in his garden too. It was in a garden after all where God decided to first place man and then walk and talk with him in the cool of the night. I believe my dad loved gardening so much because it made him feel close to God and know Him better. One of his favorite songs was a hymn called I Come to the Garden Alone (he loved gospel songs with an old country twang). The Bible is rich with agricultural parables, which are understood on one level when read, but a whole other level when experienced. My dad read the parables in his Bible and experienced the parables in his garden–the principles of seed, time, and harvest; God as our gardener; Jesus as the Vine–in a way that made spiritual truths brim with meaning.

I think he would wish you to know and cherish some of these truths today as well: That God the gardener is intimately and constantly involved in tending the soil of your heart, for you were made to know Him in an Eden like intimacy of friendship. That God still has His hands in the dirt for your sake, taking the refuse of your mistakes and composting them into fertilizer for His garden kingdom. That as a gardener God delights in the beauty and fruit and fragrance of your life lived for Him; He even wants to invite others to come and taste and see that the He is good through the delectable goodness of your life. (Psalm 34:8) And that God invites all of us to join Him in His gardening work and help tend the soil of each others hearts as we nurture each other in the faith.

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.” (Gen 2:15) Like this scripture in Genesis, our God is still inviting us to till and keep His garden today. May we drop seeds of truth into the open soul of a child, an unloved neighbor, or a lost loved one, which shall in its time, germinate, blossom and bear fruit, with the watering of the Holy Spirit. I know my dad is now in the beautiful garden of paradise, walking and talking with his Creator, and that thought brings me great joy. Someday I hope we will all meet him there, but in the meantime, let us remember to encounter our Maker in the secret garden of friendship–for just as my dad found, we too shall find “that the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.”

I love you dad. XOXOXO

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January and February Pictures

February 26th, 2017– Noah’s water baptism was eagerly attended by grandpa and will always be remembered as a very special day.

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Regency Gate hike trying to get up to the waterfalls was a really beautiful hike along the creek (we went 5 miles; almost made it to the falls, but not quite) 🙂