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Bread for the Journey ~ Father's Day


Isaiah 46:4
Even to your old age and gray hairs,
I am He, I am He who sustains you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

This Father's Day my thoughts about my dad come from a different perspective.
Dad turned 93 at the end of February and my sister and I and our husbands took
Dad out for dinner on that Saturday night to celebrate.
We had such a lovely evening together.

Monday morning I received a call from the staff at the independent living complex where he lives.
"Your Dad is not himself this morning. His speech is slurred and he's choking on his coffee."
We called an ambulance and thus began the new journey with our Dad.
He'd had a stroke and although it was considered a light one, he is no longer able to be completely independent and now needs help with many basic tasks.

This has been a difficult journey for him and for us.
Growing old is not easy nor is watching a loved one age.
From being our strong, independent Dad, he has become weak and dependent on others.
From making his own decisions, he now has others making decisions for him.
From living independently to being cared for in a nursing home.
His life has changed so drastically.

However he continues to set an example for us in the way he has
accepted these unwelcome changes to his life.
He is kind to his care givers and appreciative of all that is done for him.
He often expresses his gratitude for the way God has blessed him throughout his 93 years.

We too, have had so much to be grateful for. 
He's been an amazing Dad who has never hesitated to express his love and appreciation for us.
He has cared for us, looked out for our interests and helped us in innumerable ways over our lifetime.
He takes great pride in his girls, loving his sons in law unconditionally, engaging with his grandchildren and great grandchildren and generous with his expressions of love.
Now it is our turn to bless our Dad by ministering to him in his old age.

God has blessed us all with family.
None of us have a perfect family and ours wasn't either.
However we were fortunate that our parents chose to place God first in our home
and taught us by example to take our troubles to God our Heavenly Father.

Today I want to honour my Dad for the sacrifices he made on our behalf,
I want to thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to be this man's daughter
and for walking with him even now as he grows old.
And I want to learn from his example to trust in God throughout the seasons of my life.



7 comments:

  1. thank you for an honest tribute to your Father. I don't know him, you or your family but this reminds me of my own Father who is with Jesus. I thank God for my Dad, my husband and the 'sons' in our life.

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  2. A moving timely story Bev, as we remind ourselves of such significant blessings. This is our first Fathers Day without out Papa!
    May you continue to honor and give him the dignity. What a beautiful example and role model in how to care for the aged.

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  3. Such a lovely tribute to your father! I echo your words and am forever grateful for my father who taught me so much. I miss him so much.

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  4. What a beautiful post and your daddy sounds like such a wonderful Godly man. My daddy has been in heaven since 1997 and I still miss him. I went through what you and your family are going through with my little mother. It is so hard to watch your parent age and see all of the health issues that come along. She joined my daddy in heave in 2013. I wish the best for your daddy and how blessed he is to have a loving family to love him back.
    Thank you so much for popping in to see me.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  5. Bev, this was such a lovely affirmation of your father! We will catch up with each other one day soon, I hope. Dairymary

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  6. I'm the other daughter and my sister has expressed my sentiments So deeply and so well. My dad reminds me every day by his attitude that I want to grow old with a grateful heart

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