Hug Your Fathers Tight

written by Dakotapam on June 17, 2012 in life as we know it with 2 comments

I feel drained.

Do you know that feeling you get after a good, cleansing cry? That is how I feel.

It has been a busy weekend (how could it not be!)

Father’s Day is always a little rough for me. My own Dad died when I was just shy of 17 years old. Before that, I was not as close to him as I could have been due to the nature of divorce and blended families. I think we missed out on a lot of each other, and that is sad.

However, I have a world class father in law, and several uncles who stepped in to fill a void in an angst ridden teen’s life.

On of those uncles is my Uncle Bill. He’s my mom’s older brother. He’s my Godfather. I was terrified of him as a little girl because he was loud. He startled me, set me off guard. But then, in my college years, things changed. I began to see him less as a “scary uncle” and more of a man that deeply loved his family. I loved coming home from college on breaks and hanging out at his house. I’m one of the older cousins, so when I would come home from college most of my uncles kids were in High School and elementary school. His house was noisy, boisterous, and homey. And so, for most of my adult life, my uncle has been my rock. He’s rejoiced at the birth of my children . . .he even threw the baptism party for William. Here he is on Father’s Day thirteen years ago!

Well, Uncle Bill has been pretty sick with various ailments for the past few months. It has been hard on my aunt, and my cousins, and all of us. Last night I got a dreaded midnight call from my cousin Kristen. Things were going downhill quickly, My uncle needed surgery right away, but the blood thinners he was on meant that surgery was not an option until morning. So, this morning my aunt and my cousins said goodbye to my uncle as they rushed him into the surgery that would either prolong his life, or take it.  And that was the status at 7:22 this morning.

Well, today was to be a big day for our church family! Our congregation was finally moving into our new building from the storefront that we launched from. The story of Holy Cross Lutheran Church is a good one. It is one of defeating the odds, and defeat them, we did.

So this morning, with fear in my heart, and tears in my eyes,I packed up the kids to say farewell to our storefront church and hello to our new building. And it was wonderful. I was the soprano crying during the choir anthem. It was such a blessing to finally see this when we walked into the nave of our new church:

So we sang, and we heard God’s word proclaimed, and we celebrated like Lutherans do: first the Lord’s Supper, and then copious amounts of coffee and cookies. It was a good morning.

But I was afraid to turn my phone back on. So fearful of the bad news that I expected to hear.

I turned on my phone. I had a text and a voicemail from my cousin Kristen. My heart sank. I tried the text first. My uncle made it through the surgery!My eyes immediately welled up and I once again praised God whose mercies are new every morning.

So, on this Father’s Day, we dedicated a house for our heavenly father, my cousins still have their earthly father, and I am married to the best father my kids could ask for.

And that, my friends, is why I am utterly exhausted tonight.

tags: Father's Day Holy Cross Lutheran Church Uncle Bill

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