Becoming the Dad, your Father wants!













I miss my dad! Another Father’s day has arrived and will soon depart, until the third Sunday in June, 2010. Today I reminisced in a sermon; about the dad, that I am sure, became the one my Father (Heavenly) wanted him to be!

What is it that made him so unforgettable…the dad that I continue to miss, even though heaven has been his home since October of 1980?

Integrity- A man of his word, he did what he said he would. If he had agreed to do something, anything really, he would. That’s increasingly rare today!

Grit- He was tenacious, overcoming a debilitating stroke, (at the age of 36) to build a hauling business from the ground up, with my faithful mother at his side, and three reluctant kids as his only “ Hired Help” in the early years! That business, provided for our family, but that business would have never been anything without his true grit!

I often have thought would I, could I….rise from the ashes of a profound, personal, physical reversal…and have the “Grit” to believe that something beyond what I could imagine was waiting, beyond my extremity? It’s been said that “Man’s extremity, is God’s opportunity”. I don’t know who said it, but with my own eyes I observed it, lived out in the life of my dad, Robert Hensley.

Faith- At the age of 47, dad, said yes to the offer extended by the Holy Spirits convicting power to repent of sin, entrust his life to the Lord Jesus Christ… and become a redeemed child of God!

He became a new creation, as thorough a transition, alteration, and metamorphous, as I have ever witnessed, in over 21 years of standing in front of people week by week, and presenting the plan of salvation to them!

I miss my Dad, always will, at least on this earth, but I am comforted as the sun begins to slip behind the Western Wyoming sky, closing out this Fathers day 2009, that we will meet again!

Until that great “Getting up morning” when the redeemed of the ages break out in spontaneous praise, I am reassured by enduring memories of an earthy Dad, who became the “Dad, your Father wants.”

Comments

  1. About MeJune 22, 2009 at 8:57 AM

    Wow...that was so powerful. Thank you for sharing that and putting into words what my heart feels. I miss dad too. Your right, we are richer today because we got to see true grit lived out in front of us. There is also great comfort in knowing that we will see him again. I love you Mark.

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