DAD'S 30TH YEAR IN HEAVEN...

THIS VERSE WAS SHARED BY THE PASTOR AT HIS FUNERAL.

DAD DIED 30 YEARS AGO TODAY WHEN 65 YEARS OLD.

THROUGH MUCH SINFULNESS, FROM CHILDHOOD FORWARD, HE OFFICIALLY CAME TO THE LORD WHEN HE WAS 59.  HE LIVED IN TACOMA, AS USUAL, AND CALLED ME HERE IN OMAHA ONE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND TOLD ME.  THEN HE SENT ME A LETTER WITH HOW IT HAPPENED.  I REJOICED.

WE HAD RARELY SEEN EACH OTHER FOR YEARS, AND SAW EACH OTHER JUST ONE MORE TIME.  ALL OF MY SISTERS WENT TO SEE HIM DURING THE THANKSGIVING TIME IN '83, AND, MIRACULOUSLY, I WAS ABLE TO BE THERE, SINCE FLYING FROM OKLAHOMA WOULD BE TOO EXPENSIVE.  BUT  WE KNEW IT WOULD BE OUR LAST TIME WITH HIM AS A GROUP.

MY SISTER, NIKI, HAD CALLED ME WHEN I WAS IN OKLAHOMA IN THE PREVIOUS SEPTEMBER AND TOLD ME HE WOULD DIE SOON, AND I SHOULD WRITE A POEM FOR HIM.  GOD GAVE IT TO ME THAT DAY, I SENT IT TO HER, SHE FRAMED IT, AND GAVE IT TO HIM.  HE HAD IT ABOUT 8 MONTHS INSTEAD OF JUST A FEW WEEKS.  

AT HIS FUNERAL SERVICE, 

I READ IT, AND IT WAS GIVEN BACK TO ME,

 AND I STILL HAVE IT ON MY WALL.

HERE'S THE POEM:

TO DAD

We’re so much alike – you and I – 
    We think and we feel much the same.
When we love, it’s a deep, soul-filling love,
    When we hurt, it’s with soul-rending pain.

We’re like mirrors – mirror images.

Two needn’t be close –
    If you’re counting the miles –
To Share this world’s Days and its Night.
    There are soul-mates
Who travel life’s path side by side
    Though mountains and plains bar their sight.

And we’re mirrors – you and I – mirror images.

Without Jesus to keep us, we’d Die – you and I –
    Eternally lost from our Lord.
Our hurts closed our hearts to the goodness of God,
    And we turned our backs to His Word.

We’re SO alike – like mirrors – mirror images.

But He reached us – He found us
    And He healed our hearts –
The greatest of healings provided.
    We opened our hearts to receive that great love,
And now He walks closely beside us.

We walk hand-in-hand,
    But with Jesus between –
As He looks in our hearts, we can say
    It’s not just the one,
        or the Two,
            But the THREE of us,
Who will love through Eternity’s Day.

Shining like mirrors – mirror images