Memorial Stone Four: My first walk through the Valley of the shadow of death!

    Death, just five letters that are harsh, that strike a chord deep within us, that reverberates with sadness, fear, and an acute awareness that no one leaves earth alive.
"Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk.
It is walking toward me, without hurrying." - Jean Cocteau
In October of 1980 while sitting in a Hardin Simmons University dorm room the phone rang, the voice on the other end of the line, said “Mark, your Dad was hunting in Pogosa Springs, Colorado…and died.” I dissolved as a 19 year old into a pool…of little boy tears. 

My first real introduction to the “Great Interrupter” (Death) was cold, and stark and deeply disturbing.  Calls were made; arrangements were made to get me back to Colorado Springs, Colorado. A plane ticket was secured on Braniff International airlines, a college friend Richard Dodder at his own expense went with me. 

The flight home was a blur with one disturbing experience. My dad died on October 29th.  As you can imagine the flight home was very near Halloween. The flight attendants were wearing masks and having a festive time. I thought don’t they know that my whole world has crumbled? Of course they didn’t and for a 19 year old it was a stark reminder that the world doesn’t pause when our hearts break!

We finally landed, and I fell into the arms of my mom and brother and sister…and Laura she was there to comfort me, to comfort us.

One day, someday…on a day you to will walk through the valley of the shadow or death. I have learned that for there to be a shadow there has to be a light!

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." (John 8:12). 

I miss my dad! 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, as I have ever witnessed, in over 24 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 day, I am one day closer to seeing him again!
"We believe as Christians, that when our loved ones die, they go to be with the Lord. The Bible teaches that the Lord is with us. Well if they are with Him, and He is with us...they cannot be very far away" – Peter Marshall
The following song reminds me of Dad and that long anticipated reunion!


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