While Nathan was learning valuable new skills, I waas back at work from Tuesday to Thursday. We were very fortunate to be given a bonus day off last week, so I took Friday off to make it an extra long weekend for us! Friday, however, wasn't too relaxing, as Liesel and I had an agenda! After dropping Nathan off at Tech Camp, we went down to our local Social Security office to change the status of our Social Security Number from Permanent Residents to Citizens! This took about an hour, which Josh didn't enjoy too much. Once that was sorted out, we tried applying for our US passports at two different post offices, but they were not properly equipped to handle these applications. FInally, the third post office could do it, and it was a reasonably painless exercise. Also, one of the things we love about the USA is that we should have our brand new passports mailed to us within 4- 6 weeks! This processing speed is something a former South African is not really accustomed to!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, my sister and her husband attended my father's memorial service on Friday morning. I was unable to be there, due to my lack of a passport, but my sister read out something on my behalf. She said it was a really good service, and she is sure my father would have approved!
As for the New Year's weekend, it was a pretty low key affair in our household. On Saturday morning, I attended an exercise class, while Liesel stayed at home with the boys. We spent the rest of the day at home, and I watched the New Year in on TV. For New Year's Day, Liesel spoiled us by making us Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast. She added some sparklers to the boys' rolls to start of 2012 with some fireworks!
After breakfast, we got ready for out first Church service of 2012. Since we wanted to do something different for the first day of the year, after church we went to a restaurant that had a huge gaming center attached. So after a delicious lunch, we spent an hour playing different games with the boys! This was their highlight of the day!
As I sign off this week's blog, I want to leave you with my sister's words that she wrote to honor my dad. They are powerful, meaningful and really make you stop and think! Take these words with you as you navigate through 2012!
In honour of my dad
How do you measure the success of a life? When I look back at my dad’s life I realize
he was a very successful man.
He was a good father and made many happy memories with us.He has 2 children who both know and serve God.
He enjoyed a healthy life and was physically active to the end.
He knew God from a young age and had a new revelation of God’s love for him in the
last 3 months.
While growing up family was so important to my dad, he would phone every day
once we were home from school to find out how our day had been. He loved and lived
for the family holidays at the beach (to Ronel’s dismay he still liked going back to the
same place every year that he’s been going to since the 1980’s)
In these past few months God has shown His goodness and grace to us.
After my dad’s operation to remove a brain tumour he phoned me and shared with
me how he had had a personal, new revelation of how much God loves him. God
had reminded him of the story of the woman with the issue of blood and how she had
touched the hem of Y’shua’s garment and been healed. My dad felt God saying to him
that He had felt my dad touch the hem of His garment and I believe that that promise
resulted in my dad making a miraculous recovery from death’s door a month ago and
that God granted my dad a gift of extra time.
In that time my brother was able to come out from the USA and we spent quality time
with my dad. We were able to express complete forgiveness to dad and he was able
to say he was sorry for things in the past. I know that the power of forgiveness and
repentance is so powerful and am sure that through that God extended dad’s time. I
also see God’s graciousness in allowing my brother and I to be able to phone my dad
on Saturday and to speak and pray with my dad while Ronel held the phone to his ear
and to know that he heard everything we said to him.
We were able to say goodbye to him, to thank him for being a good dad and to remind
him that God had answered his prayer for healing, that God had felt him touch the
hem of His garment and that the greatest healing of all had taken place – a complete
spiritual and emotional healing in dad’s life and in our family. I prayed with him that
God’s timing is perfect, for His will to be done and in that we have complete peace.
If my dad could come back and share a moment with us again I believe he would give
testimony to 3 things:
1. That life is brief – only a minute ago you were a child, you spent a twinkling
of an eye as an adult and then life was over.
2. That family and relationships outweigh all other things in life. That any hurt
or unforgiveness or bitterness is not worth holding onto. That no man stands
alone, that he is who he is because of others and by God’s grace. My dad was
a husband and a father because of the relationship he had with my mom and
because of her love and support of him for 29 years. He was close to Ronel for
14 years and discovered new things in life with her. He was a brother to his
sister Jen and shared a special bond with her. He treasured the relationships he
had with each of you here today, whether on the tennis court or at church or
from his complex.
3. That eternity is a reality. The minute your breathing stops eternity begins and
it is too late to wait until that moment to determine where you will spend it.
I know my dad will spend eternity with the Father. I know we will meet again.
I know my dad would urge his loved ones to search for truth, to realize that
God’s heart is for us and not against us and to walk with the Father WHO
orders our footsteps out of love.
The LORD giveth and the LORD taketh away; blessed be the Name of the
LORD.
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