My parents were the salt of the earth, and as humble as you would ever want to meet.  They lived their faith daily and consistently.  By that I mean that they always went to church.  We were there every time the doors opened.  Mom and Dad both taught Sunday School.  My dad helped with the sound, counted the money, bought the groceries for Wednesday night supper before prayer meeting, and did anything else that was needed.  He always tithed.  Not only that, my Dad always said grace before meals whether he was eating alone, with the family, or in a restaurant.  My parents read their Bibles every day, and when I was growing up, my dad saw that we always had a time of family devotion right after supper.  Now this family time was sometimes annoying to me during my teenage years because if I had friends over, or a date, they either had to join us or at least wait until we were finished.  I’ll be honest, I kind of took all this for granted, and depending upon my mood as a teenager I was sometimes annoyed or embarrassed by their lifestyle (I’m very sorry to say).

When my Dad died last November at age 91, I was so amazed at the many testimonies about the influence my Dad had had on my friends and family—experiences from their youth that had impacted them for the rest of their lives.  My cousin told me that she loved coming to my house because we seemed like such a happy family and she loved it when she could participate in our family devotions.  My younger brother’s friend from down the street spoke of watching us through the window while we were having our family devotion, wishing their family had that kind of time together.  There were grown men, one of them now a pastor himself, who spoke at my Dad’s funeral about how he had encouraged them as their youth Sunday School teacher.

My Dad did not have a big job.  He was a mailman.  He was never out front leading teams or taking charge.  He was just a simple man with a big faith who loved his family and his church.  I thought of him when I read My Utmost for His Highest on March 19.  Oswald Chambers said, “The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character, and we encounter many changes in the process….A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles’ wings, but is a life of day in-day-out consistency; a life of walking without fainting (see Isaiah 40:31).  That was my Dad.

I guess you can tell that I have come a long way from being embarrassed by my Dad to being inspired by his faithfulness.  The many eulogies at his funeral testified of a life of fruitfulness as measured by the impact he had on so many people whose paths he crossed. Tomorrow I am leading a Lunch and Learn on Spiritual Wellness Leading to Fruitfulness.  During this study we will be learning how to apply many of the spiritual practices that I saw my Dad live out on a daily basis.  I hope you will attend and participate.

Blessings,

Judy