My Dad was a big man

My dad was a big man. He was 6 foot 5 inches. I also have no memories of him weighing less than 300 pounds. He was a football player. He loved the game. He could analyze and strategies with the best. He also loved basketball, baseball, and hockey. Until the day he died, he could hit a softball over any outfielder in any position and he liked to tell them it was coming before the ball was pitched. (His imitation of Babe Ruth.) The man knew how to play the games and loved sharing the experience with everyone.

I have memories of mom and dad and my Aunt and Uncle coming over to play cards on a regular basis. I never truly had the opportunity to play cards with my father, I think he was a little partial to letting my sister and I win, but he was just as good at playing cards and winning as well...at least that is what my mom and my Aunt Sue say.

I told you my dad was a big man. At one point in the his life, he was offered a scholarship to play football at Arizona State. It meant that he could get a free ride and do what he loved to do. Unlike today, in that era it also meant that he would have to leave my mother and me behind. He turned down the scholarship. That was the type of man he was. He had an arrogance for the games, yet that arrogance was always subject to his compassion. Dad was an outstanding athlete, yet I have very few memories of Dad playing on winning teams. You see, my father was great at playing the sports and games and he was also great at including everyone. He played on teams that were regular people that loved life, loved games, and loved sharing the fun.

My dad was a big man and it takes a big man to be willing to laugh hard. Dad was a tease and a man that loved to laugh. I can still hear the sound of his chuckle that would turn into a deep laugh. He also was good a making others laugh. I am not sure how, but he had a charisma that people enjoyed and allowed for the not so good in their lives seem not so bad either.

Dad was a big man. He was diagnosed with a fatile desaese at 27 years old. He and mom faced it head on. They saw all the doctors and dad became a great specimen because of his size but also because of his athletic abilities. The church elders prayed for him. We prayed together as a family. He was given 30 days and lived a very productive life until he died seven years later at that age of 34. About a year before he died, I learned how to drive and I don't recall why we were discussing it or "what" we were discussing, but I never forgot and I can still hear his voice saying, "It is hard, but you will be a better man if will learn to accept the stuff you cannot change." Dad accepted his disease because He knew that Jehovah was his God and that all things would be taken care of.

My father was a big man and he understood that we serve a big God. His love for Jesus dictated his love for others. He loved my mother. He loved his children. He loved his family. His abilities in sports, was always subject to his ability to laugh and share life with others. He knew the game would end, but our love for God and others would never die.

I am thankful for a dad that was a big man.

Hebrews 12:1-3 - "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Giving thanks for you, my blog reader, this week. You know I love ya - Don