Dr. Norm Wakefield on...The Joyful Dad
BATTLE SCARS AND BLESSINGS
"A careful man I must be, Little children follow me. I do not dare go astray, For they will go the selfsame way." —Anonymous
When I was a kid, my
three older brothers and I used to fight like cats and dogs. We lived in
the same house and carried the same family name, but we acted as though we
were mortal enemies.”
The persistent love
of Jesus Christ corralled that unruly family. Those hostile relationships
have been replaced with friendship and respect. In fact, several of years
ago on a stormy summer evening in western New York State, we brothers got
together again for a mini family reunion.
We were invited to
the home of my brother Ken’s son, Rick, for supper. When we arrived, the
smell of rain permeated the August air. One of those delightful summer
thunderstorms broke loose with heaven’s scenic fireworks. In the midst of
barbecuing chicken and cooking corn on the cob, the electricity went out.
So we ate our supper by candlelight.
As often happens when
an extended family gets together, our appetites were satisfied, and the
“Do you remember when. . . ?” began.
Ken turned to Rick and said, “I remember that night you and your brothers
came into my bedroom after your mother and I had gone to sleep. You woke
us up, and with tears running down your cheeks said, ‘I love you.’ God had
spoken to your hearts in a powerful way during a youth group prayer time.
As you verbalized your love for us, Joan and I were deeply moved.”
“The sweetness of those moments awakened thoughts about my dad,” Ken
continued. “I realized that I had never told him that I loved him. I’d
expressed lots of anger and resentment when I was a teenager, but never
gratitude or love. So the next day I penned a letter to him expressing
appreciation for what he had invested in my life and asked forgiveness for
the grief I’d caused him. In a week or so a letter arrived from Dad. It
was the only letter he ever wrote to any family member that I knew of. He
told how much he loved us children and how proud he was of each one. It
was probably the most precious letter I ever received.”
By now tears were streaming down Ken’s cheeks. His son Rick also was
weeping. Ken’s grandson, Ricky, Jr., was leaning against his granddad’s
shoulder, watching father and grandfather share a tender, sacred memory.
He too was feeling the moment.
I was struck with the significance of this evening. I could see Ricky,
Jr., relating this incident to his children and later to his
grandchildren. I could see those children listening with joy as a heritage
of love was passed on.
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Dr.
Norm Wakefield is a popular author, speaker, seminary professor, and
joyful dad to five happy, adult children. A few of his sought-after books
are Legacy of Joy (written with his son-in-law), Men are from
Israel, Women are from Moab (written with his daughter), and The
Dad Difference (written with Josh McDowell).
