Dad
My dad spent the first eight years of my life in the navy, sometimes being aboard ship for as long as six months at a stretch. His vessel would eventually arrive in Long Beach, California, about one hundred eighty miles from our home in the desolate Mojave Desert, and we would make that trip to pick him up. That long anticipated day was filled with joy and laughter, even as we traversed that hot and dry landscape.
As we would arrive at the ship already in harbor, we would see an assembled throng of navy families standing on the dock, looking intently for their fathers, husbands, brothers or sons. There would be noisy shouts and enthusiastic hands franticly waving as a loved one was spotted among the mob of seamen lined up along the ship’s rail. The gangplank would be lowered and the men would begin descending in orderly fashion until they reached the bottom. The jubilant sailors would then sprint toward welcoming arms.
Here Dad would come ambling down the gangplank, decked out in his khaki chief petty officer’s uniform and wearing a big smile, which spread all over his face. After Mom was held in his arms for a while, he would embrace my older brothers Bill and Bob. And then he would pick me up and give me a big hug and a peck on the cheek. With my small arms around my daddy’s neck, I was happy and contented; and with my head nestled on his large shoulders I felt safe and secure. Then with expectation, I would whisper in his ear, “What did you bring me?” Since he had been all over the world, he would always have a gift for each of us. On one occasion he brought me a bike from Japan and even took me aboard ship to see it.
Dad would stay home for several months, but when his leave was over he would once again have to ship out. The journey to take him back to his ship was always sad, and entirely too brief. With tears brimming in our eyes, he would comfort our anguish with these words: “Now don’t worry, I’ll be home soon, and I’ll bring you something when I come back.”
I trusted my dad. He did always come back, and he usually had a little surprise with him when he saw me. As an adult, years later, after reading Jesus’ final words of comfort to his disciples as he was getting ready to leave them, I would smile, thinking of Dad.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2 NIV
No comments:
Post a Comment