Part of the Plan

My dad was born on April 12, 1923.  Today is the 88th anniversary of his birth.


Blowing out his candles with Uncle Jack at #84

I have always been taught and have always believed that the Lord gives life to all of us for a purpose.  The people he places in our lives teach us, inspire us, lead us, and love us...they are all put there for a reason.  Those reasons often remain hidden to us and we are left to wonder why.  But other times we are aware that these people come along to teach us things that we need to know to give us strength for our own journey.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.  (Ps. 118: 1)

On the day we come into the world, we are screaming and instantly filled with life in our first few breaths.  Birth brings joy to the parents who have waited months for us to come.  The arrival is so special that it becomes a celebrated day each year.  But as that day is remembered year after year through the giving of gifts and the unwrapping of presents and the blowing out of candles and the making of wishes, do we think about what are we really celebrating?  Do we think about who we are really celebrating?  Do we ever think about the mission that person was born to fulfill, why he has been given life, why he was born?  Most of the time, I don't.  I think about the cake I am about to devour and could he please hurry up and blow out the candles.

Let me tell you about a boy.  This boy became a man who overcame diversity.  He was dealt a difficult hand in his early fifties, suffering a debilitating stroke that would leave him unable to use the left side of his body.  He was told he would never walk again.  Imagine being dealt a blow like that.  It knocked him down, so to speak, as I recall.  But he got back up again.  And again.  And again.  That was precisely his purpose in life:  to teach us all how it's done.  To teach us how to endure.  With joy.

I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. (Ps 118:13)

I think it took awhile, but he found peace in his purpose. He found joy amidst a mystery that didn't reveal itself right away, if at all, to him.  And he learned to walk again.  Watching him struggle through the last 30 years of his life, and watching him learn to love despite the struggle, learning to accept the struggle, learning to accept that he hadn't been abandoned, was the lesson.  He was the teacher.  That was was his purpose.

Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. (Ps. 118:18)

The day on which the Lord chooses to give us life is a joyous one.  But the day on which the Lord chooses to take a life and begin anew is equally as joyful.  I would be lying if I said the day this man died wasn't one of sorrow and confusion.  But now, having stepped back, I can see that dying was the part of the lesson.  The Lord made it that way. There was a purpose in his dying, too.  He was meant to teach that. 

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.  (Ps. 118: 24)

I learned a new lesson from his life today.  As I was reading part of Psalm 118, I realized that much of it read like a book of my father's life.  Like his struggle.  Much of it is a metaphor for his life.  Did he know that when he read it?  This Psalm is one that we sing on Easter morning, and on many joyous occasions that remind us of how we should take joy in and give thanks for the blessings God gave us because of His Son's dying. Now, it reminds me of the belssings God gives to us in both birth and death.  I will never sing this the same way again.  I will never read it with the same eyes again.  The lesson has new meaning.

The Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. (Ps. 118: 23)

So on this day, I give thanks for the day the Lord made 88 years ago.  That day gave me a father.  And I give thanks for the day he made a year ago last January.  That day brought him peace.  These are special days worth remembering.  Each day served a purpose in His plan.  Each day brought new life, in different ways.  On the first, a new baby boy was born as a gift to my grandparents, one who was meant to lead a life filled with joy and family and love and strife.  He was the only one who could live that life, a special purpose given to him by God.  And on the day he went to be with Jesus, well that was part of the plan, too. 

Somehow, His plan continues as a living work.  Today was, perhaps, a lesson I was supposed to learn. My dad lives on in the legacy of his life and what he is trying to teach me...how to live through and within the trials of life, rejoicing in them, too. He is reaching out to me through His Word.  Today was another part of His plan.  This was where I was lead today.  I was right where I was supposed to be. 

Happy Birthday, Dad.  I love you.

Remember, when He asks you which kind you want, you should always choose strawberry!