Happy 1st Birthday, Dad

January 12 is Dad’s birthday. Had he remained on Earth, he would have been 89 years old today, but last April, he left this mortal coil, shed his earthly troubles, and entered glory. Psalm 116:15 tells us that “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” I’m glad for that, because it means that Dad did not slip from his Savior’s notice as he lay dying. No, Dad was in his heavenly Father’s control, carried by the Holy Spirit from this life to the next, from the land infected by sin to see Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of his faith, face-to-face.

Today, we who loved him–his widow, his brother and sister-in-law, his other adult relatives, and his children and their spouses, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, plus hundreds of friends, acquaintances, former students, and pretty much anyone that ever met him–have another reminder of his absence from us. With that reminder of absence we have a choice to make: Wallow in our sorrow, or grieve a little as befits us, and then recall with joy what made us love him.

We loved Dad, and he loved us. As one of his children, I speak with authority of the love my siblings and I had for him. We miss him. As I have said on these pages before, grief has no timetable, a truth we learned when Mum died 35 years ago. There are nearly constant reminders for us of the man God sent to raise us, and even as we acknowledge that he wasn’t perfect in all his ways, neither are we. Ultimately, Dad provided us a biblical example of fatherhood to follow.

So, today, January 12, 2022, I sang “Happy Birthday” to Dad on my way to work. I used to call him on the phone and sing to him. He’d laugh and thank me. He often called me on my birthday. For several years I kept a recording of his singing Happy Birthday to me that he left as a voicemail, even as I changed from one cell phone to another. Then, inexplicably, it got deleted. No matter. I have his voice in my heart, just as his love remains there.

Truly, though, today is Dad’s FIRST birthday in heaven, not that such things matter there. Time has no impact there. He has no thought of me or anyone else he left behind; his thoughts are consumed by worshiping his risen Savior! I envy him. No more weakness, no more illness, nor pain, nor strife, nor sin of any kind or its effects; he is not tempted by anything. He simply glorifies God, which was Dad’s greatest desire in this life. Oh, may I aspire to be like him!

Happy birthday, Dad! I miss you, and I love you!

Bill