The last couple of years I have been very sickly. I have been in the hospital three times and I
just had a bad case of pneumonia. I can
see in the eyes of my children that they are very scared and concerned for
me. My daughter came over to the house
every day when I was very sick;to check about my health, and my oldest son was
sending texts checking on me. My baby
(he is 11 years old, but he is still my baby) was sleeping in our room so he
could help take care of daddy. This was
a big change to see their dad like this. I used to allow Josh, the oldest, to
punch me in the stomach because I had taken some boxing in college and know how
to hold my stomach and not get hurt. But,
the other day Sharon had to tell
him he could not do that anymore. I am diabetic, and I take insulin in my
stomach and it leaves bruises and it hurts if he would punch me. Bekah used to love to wrestle on the bed with
dad, even after she was married, she would love to come in after I had lain
down and jump on me and wrestle around. Sharon
had to tell her to stop because I, and the bed could not handle it any
more. Kaleb misses out the most,
because of my bad knees we do not go out and play ball, go to the park and
other things that I did with the other kids.
They see their dad getting decrepit.
I know how they feel, I remember about 15 years ago, my dad
got real sick, had a long stay in the hospital and when he left he was on
oxygen. It is that realization; that
your dad is not immortal, and you are scared about what you are going to do
without your dad. He has always been
there, your buddy, your adviser. It is a
very scary thought to lose that.
I would like to address my children and say yes, someday I
will die and it will probably happen before you are ready for it. But I want you to know that I am ready at any
time the Lord calls. I know that all
three of you are Christians and you are working to lead the next generation of
our family to Christ. My only regret is that God gave me so much and I do not
think I used it the best I could have for the Kingdom
of Christ
I also want you to know how proud of you I am. Josh, I will be honest that some of the
middle years I was really concerned for you and I invested a lot of prayer in
you. You at one time had your heart set
on becoming a ballet dancer and you were well on your way do that, you had
already started doing it professionally and even had a dance choreographed for
you at Houston Ballet. But you also saw the bad side how there was corruption
and favoritism and it crushed your spirit toward dance. And you wondered for several years before you
found Chick fi la. It gave you
direction, maturity and taught you a lot about business and how to better deal
with people. Also at Chick fi la you meet
Lauren and she has helped you out greatly by being a calming influence and
helps you live a healthier lifestyle. I
know you were not real happy with Chick fi la when you left but it greatly
prepared you for your career as a banker.
I am so proud that you do not just have a job but a real career that you
can provide for your family.
I am also proud of Rebekah the most obvious is our 1st
and 2nd grandchild. But also
for finding a good job in something you love working with children, going to
school and getting good grades. You
struggled though you High School years because of your learning difficulties
but now you are working to get a degree online, which we found is one of the
best ways for you to learn, you have
straight A’s. That you have found a good
husband in Seth.
Kaleb I am proud of you also: we are still learning about
your strengths. And one of them is
compassion and helping others. You
helped your Grandpa when he had two
surgeries. You have helped me in my
different hospital stays and when I was home afterwards need nursing care. Plus you are known around the church as a
good helper. We need to develop this God
given talent of yours to become your career.
To all my children
all I ask of you is to carry on the faith in your children and your children’s
children. And hold fast to your
faith. And remember I love you.
Love
Dad.
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