Tuesday 19 February 2008

Message to my earthly father

Hi dad, I miss you! You were the greatest! I think this is the second letter I have written to you. The first letter was almost 28 years ago now - October 1980, a month before you went to be with Jesus. Mom said my first letter was hard on you because I said too many mushy things. Well, I loved you then and still do.

I told all my blogging (thats a good term dad, not new swearing!) friends how you helped me get my first horse. Thanks again! That was awesome dad. I remember how you taught us to take care of the horses. Remember when we broke old "Tom" to pull the buggy? We did it in February in the deep snow so he wouldn't run away.
I cherish the memories of fishing on Bartlett Lake. You bought this old wooden boat for 15 dollars, re-glued it and let it sit in the lake that joined our farm. The water would swell the wood so it wouldn't leak too bad. We used the old coffee cans to bail out the water so we could row out and fish for perch with you. Going behind the barn to dig for worms was always fun.

Dad, thanks for the Christian heritage. I still remember "family altar" time in the evening. Mom would help us memorize scripture - and learn the books of the Bible. Still can say all 66 of them in order! :o)

Well dad, gotta go. If Jesus has an iMac maybe we can do a iChat sometime! If not just check out my blog. Miss you. You were the greatest dad - I'm trying to be the same. Bye for now, see ya before to long.

Love, your son

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

If your Dad was half the man you have shown us to be, your Dad was an incredible person.

thanks for letting us read and share with you in this.

CrossView said...

*sniff*
I just lost my Dad Nov. 3rd. =(
There's nothing quite like a Daddy!

Anonymous said...

Very sweet...i am actually speechless..

Indian Lake Papa said...

Brent - My dad could do anything, particularly anything mechanical. I don't remember him smashing his pinkies either. :) I was in awe of my father.

Crossview - My dad was 70 and died of lung cancer after a 9 month battle. He died November 1, 1980. I was 37. He was my fishing buddy. During his illness I took 3 weeks vacation just to go fishing for the last time with my dear friend.

Darla - Many times watching and listening to my dad - I was speechless. Especially when I was a bad boy - which was rare - yea right!

Anonymous said...

Papa- I didn't have a dad that loved or cared, mostly just hateful and mean. the things he taught me was to drink alcohol, and try to be meaner than him, and to not trust anyone. God worked a miracle in my heart of stone, and forgave me for my bad choices and gave me the grace and power to forgive my dad.

Yes God has shown me how very special I am to HIM, and HE has my loyality and my love and I strive to know HIM more and love HIM more. HE is my Everything!

Indian Lake Papa said...

That rips my heart out Darla! Fathers and daughters are a special relationship. He missed a God-given gift. Be always assured your Heavenly Father loves you!

Robin said...

Papa, are you trying to make me cry? I have softened so much in the last decade. Actually I've always been soft just refused to let anyone know it - tried to hide my humanity. Thanks for sharing your loving relationship with you dad with us!

Darla, I'm so sorry about the past it breaks my heart. What a miracle that God broke through and changed your heart and filled you with love and forgiveness! You are an example of one of God's miracles!

Indian Lake Papa said...

Robin - the role of parent is a God given skill - and a huge responsibility. Alway take that role seriously.

Tam said...

This is beautiful Papa!

Like Darla, I had a very poor example of an earthly father, who left us when I was 3. The there were moms abusive boyfriends. But it was surprisingly easy to comprehend a Heavenly Fathers love. The earthly ones did no damage there!

Anyone man can father a child - but not every man can be a daddy! Yours was and now you are! What a special heritage you have Papa! He and HE must be so very proud of you!

I'm personally thankful for the morals, values and respect your father instilled in you...we are now reaping those benefits. His legacy lives and reaches through to many generations!

I love you!

Robin said...

I think becoming a parent has been a healing process for me. My hard exterior softened to let the true me out once I found out about my daughter's existence. Parenting is one of the best things that ever happened to me.

Oh my daughter turned 8 recently :)

Indian Lake Papa said...

Tam - Thankfully our Heavenly Father loves unconditionally. Not all earthly fathers do that.


Robin - my friend, a word of caution. When a child of our own becomes a part of our own emotional healing process there is a danger of emotional dependency from that child. Watch for statements from you like: "If you loved mommy you wouldn't ...". A child grows up to be an independent spirit - nurture that.

Anonymous said...

You are lucky to have such great memories of your dad! :D I see where you get it from! ;-)

Love ya!

Anonymous said...

Wow, thank you for sharing your heart with us. I will be writing letters like this to my Daddy when he goes to Heaven...which I hope isn't for awhile....he sounds like quite an example, and I'm glad we get the overflow from you! Blessings.

Robin said...

I don't think I expressed what I meant clearly here. Its hard to explain what I'm trying to say... Having children helped me become more real to who I am - does that make sense. I used to hide who I was deep inside. I could be watching a tear jerker with a bunch of people while everyone around me was using up all the kleenex, but not Robin she was too tough to show how she felt. I kept it in, but felt what they did deeply. Once I had children for some reason I for some reason freed from my hard outer shell. I've become a softer person at least for the world to see - because I was always soft just afraid to show it... Does that make sense?

Indian Lake Papa said...

That helps Robin - I am confident you are a great mom. I am recognizing a lot o great moms in this blogging culture! I wish my mom could have blogged!

Robin said...

Your mom blogging would have been cool :)