”Your honest faith, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you.” – 2 Timothy 1: 6
So as I sit and read over these verses I can’t help but think what an incredibly valuable and priceless gift it is to have the parents I have. Especially as we celebrated Father’s Day this past Sunday. As I read the words “handed down” I am truly grateful for all that my parents have taught to Travis and I and so many others in the area. For this moment though I want to focus on my pops in honor of this week.
He has instilled in my brother and I what it means to have faith. Many of you don’t know that around 10 years ago my dad took a voluntary layoff from Kodak after 25 years of being a service engineer. In this day and age where work is tough to come by, he took a step of faith for our family because he believed God was calling him into full time ministry. Talk about jumping out of the boat. I look at Kodak as his boat that he was content in, comfortable in, and what he knew for so many years. It was a daily schedule with set hours. It was benefits, vacation time, retirement, the complete package according to the American Dream. Yet he knew there was more that God had in store. Now instead of that job with Kodak he works in the inner city, with his phone blowing up all the time, on call 24-7 with no set hours, totally trusting that God will provide. He is a living breathing example of what it means to live by faith.
Beyond faith, he is the greatest example of grace I have ever seen. You think I am a forgiving loving person, where do you think I got it from. He passed it down to me. He exemplified it in our home. Were there times I would let him down and disappoint him? Absolutely. Were there times he would have to discipline? Of course. Never once through all of it though did I ever doubt his love for me. He has a way of presenting it to Trav and I also that we could understand, very practically. I will never forget him sitting us down at the beach and telling us to look at the waves. We would sit there and watch them, listening to them coach against the shore, one after the next. Then he started to speak saying, “You see those waves, they are like my love for you. Never ending. Just as God’s Love is never ceasing, that is how I feel about you two.” What a moment. What a freeing feeling to know that his love is not based on our works or how much we make him proud or disappoint, it is just continual. Having that knowledge has allowed us to take chances and risks in life because we know we have our parents never ending support. Whether it meant Trav moving to Haiti not really knowing what he was doing or me starting a Skate ministry even though I don’t skate. Our faith always goes back to what was passed down to us through the generations.
I could go on and on with all that my dad has taught. Instead of writing it out I would challenge all of you to just spend some time with him and you will see what it means to allow Christ to live in and through you from his daily life. If you know him at all, you know what I am talking about. As a dad now myself, I only hope and pray I can be half the example that you are.
Now that I have kids of my own, I get to see him passing down that faith to future generations. What a blessing, what a joy to watch and be part of. Thank you for living out this verse POPS. Love ya, Happy Father’s Day.
