I awoke anxious again today.  It is Labor Day weekend but that didn’t matter.  I have things I want to do and things I want to enjoy and all of them were looking like “must do’s”.  As I started my devotions God simply said, “Why not turn this scene into a pristine one where each of these things to do get to be done out of pleasure rather than out of “must”?  Well, that’s all it took.  I get to enjoy this day.  I reread yesterday’s post and saw what I’d put from Joyce Meyer’s writing regarding the little foxes.  I was about to let those dang foxes win but God stepped in and gave perspective.  Boy is He a Good Dad!

Nineteen years ago today we buried my mom’s body and then had a celebration of her life.  This day it is as vivid in my mind as it was those 19 years ago.  Even though mom was 89 years old, none of us were ready for her departure.  It happened so suddenly.  All of us kids were looking forward to sharing her.  Dad had already been in the hospital for a couple weeks and we had been called to the hospital 3 or 4 times to give our good-byes.  However, it was not to be dad’s time.  Each one of them were ones where he rallied.  He ended living 3 years beyond mom before God took him home.

As I look back on these days I wouldn’t be as free today if God had arranged it differently with dad going first.  It was during dad’s days in the nursing home that I was able to finally confront him as my counselor had tried diligently to have me do.  I heard a line from dad I needed to hear directly from his voice.  He said, “I had told everyone I knew how proud I am of you, I guess I just forgot to tell you.”  Here I am 68 years old needing to know my dad was proud of me.  Well, it just doesn’t matter our age, we need to know we are loved and supported.  I got to hear that just a couple months before dad’s passing.  I will always be thankful for God’s timing.  He knew this for me and He knows this for each of us.  He is like that–A VERY GOOD DAD!