Lisa Collins is a friend, a ministry partner, an extraordinary worship leader, and a bride-to-be. In response to my request for love stories, she wrote to me about how her father modeled God’s grace. I think you’ll like it! Here goes….
The casual observer might glance at my Dad and not notice anything that distinguishes him from any other man. He is average in height and build. His hair is showing some gray-which is expected of a man in his sixties who survived raising two daughters. His home is modest and under a mortgage. His job is nothing that will bring him acclaim, wealth or notoriety – he is a plumber. He is a husband. He is a father. He is a “B-Poppa”-short for “Big Poppa” in case you don’t speak his granddaughter, Daphnee’s, language.
To the casual observer, he might appear average, ordinary. But look closer and you’ll see that there is a difference-this is no ordinary man! There is a gleam in his eyes and a brightness to his smile that belies the joy that he carries inside him. His grin is genuine and frequent-often mischievous, but never mean. He seems a quiet man, yet an air of confidence, peace and leadership surround him. He is trusted. He is respected and is known as a man of integrity and principle. He is known as a man who loves God.
He is also loved-greatly! I love my Dad for many reasons. I appreciate him for thousands more! Throughout my life he has been a constant example of what it means to serve others. I could give you dozens upon dozens of stories of things my Dad has done for me over the years-things from playing board games with me at the end of a long workday, to sneaking into my car and leaving an ice cold Pepsi for me to find after school, to always keeping an eye open for that unique antique or piece of “junk” that he knows I will take delight in, to helping me with numerous handy-man projects, etc., etc., etc. Over the years, he has poured himself into finding ways to say “I love you.” I have no doubt that I am loved (and possibly a little bit spoiled).
His greatest act of love to me has been the example of his love and respect for his Heavenly Father. My dad has more than a Sunday morning relationship with God. Embedded in my memory is the image of my dad on so many nights sitting on the couch in the living room…but instead of a TV remote in his hand, his Bible is open on his lap, his notebook filling up with things the LORD is teaching him. He is not a pastor or a Sunday School teacher. He has no “reason” why he has to read and study. He does it out of his love for God and his love for his family. He knows that the only way he can be the man that his family and this world need him to be is with God’s help.
As a kid, so many times I would run downstairs to talk to my Dad, only to enter the room and find him “talking” to God – out loud. Sometimes he was even weeping as God was refining him and molding him. Etched in my mind is a picture of my Dad on his knees, sometimes even on his face in prayer before God. By example, my Dad has shown me the importance of having a living, growing relationship with God – He is a true worshiper. He has given me a priceless heritage of belief in God, and has lived an example of “walking” with God. My dad is not just a family man-he is a Spirit-filled family man. My dad is not just a plumber – he is a missionary that prays over the homes he enters and the people he serves through his work. My dad is not just a giver-he is an extravagant giver that looks for ways to love God by serving others. He is most definitely an extraordinary man!
In case you haven’t picked up on it, my dad is Superman in the flesh! But he is also flesh and blood. He is human and flawed and has a selfish sin nature that he has to constantly surrender to God. At times he has loved imperfectly and failed his family miserably! He has made mistakes, small and large. He has reaped consequences of bad choices and definitely regrets some of his past actions. Yet, even knowing his shortcomings, my Dad has my respect-because my dad does not live in the past, nor does he relinquish his God-given responsibilities because he has blown it a time or two. He has allowed God’s grace to cover his past and redeem his mistakes. My dad loves God deeply because he knows how deeply God loves him. He knows what Grace is because he has accepted God’s grace over his own life.
The greatest and most significant lesson my dad ever taught me was the meaning of this grace and unconditional love. The day I left for college was an emotional one for me. It took me miles to get my tears under control and stop the waterworks! I finally took a deep breath, used a Kleenex and reached up to pull my visor down to inspect the damage in the mirror. And the tears started again. Slipped under a corner of my mirror was a business card of my Dad’s. It was face down with a message written on the back – “Always Remember, No Matter What – I Love You! Dad.” That card was a daily reminder to me of not only my earthly father’s love and acceptance of me, but of my Heavenly Father’s as well.
A few years later, after reaping a harvest of my own bad decisions, I was sitting in the back yard with my Dad. I had just poured out my heart and shared my “mess” with him, and you know what his response was?
“There’s something to be said for Grace.”
I was instantly reminded of that little card in my visor – the message on that card was the reason I knew I could talk to my dad and ask for his help. It was how I knew that no matter what I did, I would find forgiveness, unconditional love and a place of refuge and healing in the arms of my Dad. And I knew then, as I know now, that that message was also a message from my Heavenly Father. Those words are the words of my God, spoken to me through my Dad–”Always Remember, No Matter What – I Love You!”
