My Father's Whistle

Verse: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

  When I was 12 years old, my father took me out to the woods to try to make a hunter out of me. He brought me to a tree stand where he fastened a safety belt to me and to the tree so that in case I fell out of the tree stand, the safety belt would keep me from falling to the ground. He gave me two things: one was an expensive bottle of mosquito repellent and the other was a whistle. He told me to use the repellent sparingly (because it was expensive) and that the whistle was in case I was in trouble. If I needed him, all I had to do was blow the whistle and he would come to my rescue. He then told me he would be right back and headed over the hill until he was out of sight. It wasn't more than a few minutes that I began to get bored. Recognizing that the repellent made a neat white spot on the multi-colored leaves below, I spent the next 15 minutes covering as many leaves as I could see. After the repellent ran out, I noticed that the sun had begun to go down. Remembering that my dad had said he would be right back, I began to worry that maybe he had forgotten me. As it continued to get darker I began to panic. I then remembered the whistle he had given me and figuring that being abandoned in the woods was an emergency, began to blow the whistle as loud as I could. Within a few minutes  I saw a light at the top of the hill and I heard my father call my name. "Are you alright son?" he called. "Yes", I answered, "I was scared you left me." With that he climbed up the tree stand, put his arm around me and said "Don't be afraid son, I'm here. Everything's going to be alright."

On January 17th, 2013 my father passed away suddenly. On that day I once again found myself as a 12 year old boy, sitting in my tree stand, watching the sun go down. As it began to get darker and darker, I began to panic, and reaching for my whistle, I began to blow as loud as I could. This time my dad didn't come. No matter how many times I blew the whistle, there was still no answer. Just as I was about to slip into deep despair I saw a light shining through the darkness. Soon I could see two figures standing at the top of the hill. It was Jesus holding my fathers hand and saying to me "Don't be afraid, I'm here. Everything is going to be alright."

Prayer: Dear Lord- Thank you for giving me an earthly father who loved me. Thank you for helping him complete his race as a faithful servant to you. Help me to always be grateful for the time spent with him and the memories we made together. Help me to continue to run my race as faithfully as he ran his. Most of all, thank you for loving me so much that you gave him to me as my dad. In Jesus name, Amen.